Alan Razak, Principal, AR Spruce

On behalf of everyone at AR Spruce and ULI Philadelphia, we warmly congratulate Alan Razak, co-Founder and Principal at AR Spruce on his outstanding term as District Council Chair of ULI Philadelphia. Alan made remarkable contributions to both our Philadelphia and regional community and to ULI globally, and he did it in a time of unprecedented upheaval.

As soon as he was elected to this position in 2019, Alan dove in with the characteristic dedication we see him bring to every project at AR Spruce. “It was clear from the beginning that Alan is a thoughtful contributor and leader, who is always generous with his time and expertise,” says Laura Slutsky, Executive Director of ULI Philadelphia. “He thinks not just from his professional viewpoint as a developer, but about the big picture and the long-term impact we can have for people and communities.”

As one of the largest ULI District Councils in the nation, Philadelphia serves the city and greater metro areas plus Central Pennsylvania, Delaware, Lehigh Valley and Southern New Jersey, with a total span of 900 members. The role of District Council Chair is key for community building, neighborhood development, promoting member engagement, mission delivery and thought leadership.

From the outset, one of Alan’s priorities was to bring ULI’s national UrbanPlan program to Philadelphia. A real estate training module built on experiential learning and usable at many different levels, UrbanPlan engages participants in the process of real estate development, whether they are high school students learning about market forces and civic engagement, or the field of real estate, university students developing professional skills, or public officials and community leaders seeking insight to improve public/private partnerships.

Given the logistical constraints created by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Alan and ULI Philadelphia focused on rolling out UrbanPlan first to college students and community organizations, training a cohort of 25 volunteers who then taught the UrbanPlan program to 18 students and 25 community leaders in virtual sessions.

A second, connected but arguably much more ambitious priority was increasing ULI Philadelphia’s diversity, equity, and inclusion across multiple fronts, from improving representation among leadership and membership to promoting minority and underrepresented interests in real estate development, education, hiring and other activity areas.

On May 25, 2020, less than a year into Alan’s term, George Floyd was murdered resulting protests worldwide. This pivotal moment brought a more urgent tone to national conversations about racial injustice and systemic racism in America. “As a strong advocate on this issue, Alan was willing to be bold and initiate conversations that are sometimes hard to have,” Slutsky says. “We worked with a group of advisors to start outlining focus areas to make our chapter more inclusive and diverse.”  Alan’s push for awareness and action spanned across local and national platforms – among early ULI efforts Alan organized a nationally attended webinar by Richard Rothstein, author of the book “The Color of Law” detailing how the real estate industry specifically continued and reinforced US practices that resulted in deep racial inequities

“Alan reached out to me in June 2020 to work on DEI, and that began a relationship where I was on the phone with Alan once or twice a week for 52 weeks talking about diversity and ULI,” says Ron Silverman, partner at Cox Castle and Nicholson in Los Angeles, CA and a co-chair of the Chairs of Mission Advancement at the national level for ULI. “I saw his incredible commitment to this subject, an openness to new ideas, a pioneering spirit, a true sense of leadership. There’s no question that what he did with his District Council led the way for others in their DEI efforts.”

In September 2020, ULI Philadelphia released its DEI Framework. Based on the work with the advisory group, the Framework complements ULI America’s work to increase diversity—including race and ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ status and gender identity—both as an organization and as an industry, with specific initiatives to support measurable outcomes.

In addition to his two major priority areas, Alan helped to advance policy work around ULI issues such as affordable housing, the future of work, and life sciences. He pushed the local organization to begin examining its role in climate change mitigation and measuring resilience capability—work that will continue under new leadership.

And of course, he was at the helm when the pandemic broke out, which threw down roadblocks for his initiatives and priorities, and required the entire organization to shift operations for a period in early 2020.

“He was instrumental in helping us navigate the early months of the pandemic, closing down our in-person business and all of the communications around that,” Slutsky says. “He was not afraid to make decisions that were unpopular but that were the right thing to do. As a leader, he couldn’t have been better to work in in navigating a really tough, crazy time.”

AR Spruce is notably proud of Alan’s role in assisting to select Anne Cummins, the first woman as the District Council Chair for ULI Philadelphia.

Alan has strongly supported the same kind of leadership at our own firm. Several years before his term as ULI District Council Chair, Alan and his partner Jackie Buhn had begun the negotiations that led to the formation of AR Spruce. The merger was finalized in late 2020, closing out what was an eventful year. A year which challenged us to reflect on past practices, and to reimagine a different and better future. One that rebalances the distribution of power at the table and reflect on potential impact this decision could have on us, as individuals and as an organization.

This concept has resonated with our clients because that diversity of perspectives also means more creativity, more engagement with the communities we serve and more possibilities for continuing to make positive impact and move the needle on systemic inequities. In the first year alone, AR Spruce has won seven notable projects, including the Vare Recreational Center and Waterloo Playground with Make the World Better, Global Leadership Academy West and Southwest, and Urban Affairs Coalition.

It is always bittersweet to see a successful leader’s term come to a close. But we continue to stay engaged in ULI Philadelphia in our own work, with AR Spruce Co-Founder, Principal & CEO, Maleda Berhane serving on the ULI Philadelphia Advisory Board, the DE&I Committee and as co-Chair of the Small Scale and Impact Development Council. Alan will continue to play a key role in elevating and expanding the culture of ULI Philadelphia as a current Governance Chair and ULI Global Governing Trustee.

“Alan has taught me a phrase I love which is that we should be willing to have a fierce conversation,” Silverman says. “He is someone who will bring a unique approach and passion to whatever he does, and I am looking forward to seeing what he does next, because as far as I am concerned, he is just getting started.”