Affordable Housing: The Missing Middle

In this episode, we welcome AJ Jackson, President of LEO Impact Capital, a subsidiary of JBG Smith focused on acquiring, financing, and operating workforce housing using an Impact Framework. AJ serves on numerous boards and advisory councils, including the Fannie Mae Affordable Housing Advisory Council, NMHC’s Workforce Housing Committee, and is Chair of the Advisory Board at the Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate at ULI.

AJ shares his fundamental understanding of macroeconomic conditions impacting the demand for affordable and workforce housing in gateway and growing cities, navigating public policy to establish competitive solutions to reducing housing prices for cost-burdened renters, and LEO’s unique organizational structure in solving for the “missing middle.”

With inflation and capital constraints impacting the public and private markets, housing remains at the forefront of national conversations. AJ offers listeners an abundance of knowledge on ways operators can leverage policy, public benefits, and technology to level the playing field. Tune in to learn how the private markets are paving the way for a future in workforce housing.

Interview by: Dean Firouzian / MSRED Candidate 2025

Produced by: Lacey Cochran

Music: #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/mark-july/dance-with-me

License code: KQAWWN4CWQXDF01E