James Brooks

Biography

James Brooks serves as the City of Worcester’s Director of Housing Development and Healthy Homes who manages the city’s development and rehabilitation of its housing stock. In this position, Mr. Brooks currently serves as the liaison between developers and the municipality for over 3000 units of residential development at a cost of 3 billion dollars underway within the City of Worcester. He is responsible for over 53 million dollars in State and Federal Grants through HUD, ARPA, Massachusetts and other agencies for various programs including the development of new housing stock, adaptive reuse of existing housing stock, and multiple programs that address rehabilitation and remediation of residential units containing adverse health, life safety and indoor environmental conditions. Mr. Brooks has overseen the development, rehabilitation, and preservation projects of thousands of units in the city. In addition, he oversees the city’s first ever Affordable Housing Trust Fund and helped enact Worcester’s Inclusionary Zoning and Accessory Dwelling Unit policies. Mr. Brooks’ licenses and certifications include Massachusetts Construction Supervisor, Massachusetts Deleading Supervisor, Massachusetts licensed Lead Inspector, NEHA certified Healthy Homes Specialist, Mold Remediation Supervisor, and Residential Radon Measurement Professional. He has also been a Massachusetts licensed real estate broker for over 20 years. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Fitchburg State University. Mr. Brooks is a professional in the field of Healthy Housing and housing’s effect on healthcare costs. He serves as Subject Matter Expert in Healthy Homes for the National Environmental Health Association, trainer for HUD Healthy Housing programs, serves on the Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership’s Healthy Housing Committee and the Healthy Housing representative for Worcester’s Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund and has presented to local, state and federal HUD and EPA professionals on the subject of Healthy Housing. Mr. Brooks serves on the boards of several organizations including Region 1 (New England) Chairman of the National Community Development Association (NCDA), Worcester’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Worcester Community Action Council, Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership, UMASS Memorial Hospital’s Anchor Mission Investment Committee and Worcester Housing Supply and Stabilization Working Group.