Kurt Creager has joined BRIDGE Housing as Executive Vice President, effective immediately. Creager will oversee BRIDGE’s growing real estate development activity in Washington State; he reports to President and CEO Cynthia Parker. BRIDGE is a nationally recognized nonprofit developer, owner and manager of affordable housing.
Creager has more than 30 years of leadership experience in community development and finance in both the public and private sectors. As Director of the Portland Housing Bureau, he managed an annual budget of $215 million, a pipeline of 3,000 affordable dwellings and a portfolio of 14,000 rent-regulated apartments citywide. Previously, he served as Director of Housing & Community Development for Otak, a Portland-based architecture and engineering firm with offices in Redmond, WA. His engagements there included Seattle Workforce Housing Best Practices for the Seattle City Council and the East Corridor Equitable Housing Development Strategy for the Puget Sound Regional Council.
Earlier, during Creager’s 16-year tenure as CEO, the Vancouver Housing Authority developed 3,500 units of housing, completing one project on average every eight months, including 2,000 units of workforce housing. The agency also reduced its reliance on federal funding from 85 percent of the operating budget to 45 percent. And as Chief of Housing and Economic Development for Metro King County, Creager developed the Affordable Housing Policy Plan (1986) and Regional Economic Development Plan (1989), both of which were enacted by the King County Council, and implemented the Housing Opportunity Fund (1989-1990) which has funded more than 10,000 housing units in communities across King County, including Seattle.
Creager serves on the board of the Housing & Development Law Institute in Washington, DC, and has received numerous regional and national awards, including the M. Justin Herman Award for achievement in creating affordable housing and transforming communities from the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials; the Hammer Award from Vice President Al Gore for Reinventing Government for Central Park Place, 124 units of permanent supportive housing; and the Friend of Housing Award from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission.
He earned a BS in Environmental Planning and Architectural Graphics from Western Washington University and has received executive certifications from Harvard University and the University of Washington.
“I am delighted to welcome Kurt to BRIDGE,” said Cynthia Parker, BRIDGE President and CEO. “His deep experience and steadfast commitment to holistic development will strengthen our ability to create much-needed housing and opportunities for communities in Washington State.”
