Jill Sherman on developing buildings for a thriving future

For developer Jill Sherman, buildings are not just assets, they are support systems for a thriving future. Jill leads Edlen & Co.’s public-private partnerships and build-to-suit projects. Jill sources new deals and manages all aspects of the development process, with a depth of expertise at integrating non-conventional sources of financing including low income housing tax credits, new market tax credits, historic tax credits, tax-exempt bonds and urban renewal funds. “We are focused on developing work that is community focused, impacts underserved communities, and pushes the boundaries of sustainability to try to bring that to scale,” she says. One such project, the PAE Living Building, was “the world’s first developer-led Living Building” and the approach (it was a conventional capital stack model) will be studied for some time. Jill shared about her path to becoming a developer, which germinated in noticing needs in the community and a desire to do positive things. The key attributes for development work, she says, are deep curiosity, comfort with math, and a high tolerance for unexpected challenges. We were at the Living Future conference, surrounded by the community, so our question about “being part of the movement” resonated. “When I'm able to meet with like-minded developers and architects and contractors and engineers,” she says, “I do feel like we are all trying to, yes, move our industry forward, but more importantly, create some positive change in the world.”