Jill Ferrari

Biography: Jill Ferrari has 25 years of experience in catalyzing urban redevelopment. Her background includes private real estate acquisition and development, legal practice, consulting and community development. As CEO of Shelborne Development, Jill successfully secured over $30,000,000 in financing for real estate development projects that focus on neighborhood revitalization and affordable housing. As the Chief Executive Officer of Michigan Community Resources, she led the multimillion-dollar nonprofit to support community economic development in low-income areas throughout Michigan. Through her leadership, the organization launched Neighborhood Exchange, an innovative electronic platform that supports community economic development at all levels. As Director of Community Development for Wayne County, Michigan, she funded hundreds of multifamily and supportive housing units for victims of domestic violence, homeless veterans and youth aging out of foster care. Her management of community development funds helped leverage over $200 Million in private investment. Jill’s approach resulted in comprehensive programming designed to address multiple issues faced by each community. She launched a deconstruction initiative with SER Metro-Detroit and Warm Training Center in 2010 that targeted participants in the US Department of Labor’s Pathways Out of Poverty program. This initiative paired workers with deconstruction projects that were primarily within walking distance of their homes, to minimize barriers caused by lack of transportation. In 2012, she partnered with the Wayne County Jails and Detroit Recovery Project to create a comprehensive re-housing and re-entry program for returning citizens. As an attorney and private real estate developer, she has managed complex Brownfield Redevelopment projects in multiple states. In 2007, she managed the assemblage of an 84-acre Brownfield Redevelopment site in Las Vegas, including all entitlements and financing. This project involved the expansion of the gaming district on Las Vegas Boulevard and securing the largest redevelopment incentive package (including Sales Tax Anticipated Revenue (STAR) bonds) in the City’s history. She managed the packaging of incentives on the former Northville Psychiatric Hospital site and was successful in securing over $12Million in Tax Increment Financing for the Island Lakes at Taylor project. Jill was named a 2017 “Woman of Influence” by the Wayne State University Council on the Status of Women. She is also the 2016 winner of the Melvin Simon Award from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation. She is the current Vice Chair of the Urban Land Institute Michigan District Council, and the founder of ULI Michigan’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, designed to promote leadership for women in the real estate industry. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Detroit and a judge for the annual CREW Real Estate Impact Awards. She is the former Chairman of the Board of CreateDetroit, Inc., Advisory Council member for The Heidelberg Project and has participated in coordinating successful events in Detroit such as The National Summit, the Creative Cities Summit and BravoBravo! for the Detroit Opera House.