McCormack Baron Salazar

McCormack Baron Salazar is the nation’s leading for-profit developer, manager and asset manager of economically-integrated urban neighborhoods. Since 1973, the firm has been an innovator in community development and urban revitalization in 47 cities, having built more than 22,000 high-quality homes for families, children, seniors and veterans.

Since its founding in 1973, McCormack Baron Salazar has made quality, affordable housing the cornerstone of our efforts to rebuild central cities across the United States that have deteriorated through decades of neglect and disinvestment.

McCormack Baron Salazar’s role as an innovator in community and urban redevelopment can be traced to 1963, when an idealistic Oberlin College student named Richard Baron volunteered at a Freedom School established by social activists and residents of Cleveland’s impoverished Hough neighborhood. Mr. Baron’s experience working with children in Hough opened his eyes to the needs, hopes and potential of low-income urban communities.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Baron became a legal aid lawyer representing public housing tenants in St. Louis. There he saw first-hand huge disparities in housing quality and opportunity available to poor families. Baron helped create a more responsive public housing bureaucracy and persuaded the agency to give tenants a role in managing public housing developments.

During this time he forged a relationship with labor leader and homebuilder Terry McCormack and in 1973 the two formed McCormack Baron & Associates (now McCormack Baron Salazar). Their vision, to rebuild low-income communities by providing quality housing options for all people, is the core principle of the company’s mission today.

Through the intervening years, the firm has evolved in order to address broader challenges and create stronger impacts. Early projects focused on the development of small, single sites with mixed-income rental housing. Striving for even greater impact on disadvantaged neighborhoods, McCormack Baron Salazar began to develop multi-block areas, creating financial structures that combined local and Federal programs to support a mix of affordable, public housing and market-rate homes. Recognizing that quality, secure and stable housing was just the beginning, McCormack Baron Salazar now includes the development and support of neighborhood schools, early childhood education, youth and senior activities, resident job training and self-sufficiency, economic development, access to quality health services, environmental stewardship and energy efficiency and a long-term commitment to the community as core activities in comprehensive neighborhood revitalization.

Through the same period, the company began expanding its real estate services to include property management, asset management and specialized services like public infrastructure consulting, sustainability, and a New Markets Tax Credit group. In expanding its vision and scope, McCormack Baron Salazar has also created long-term partnerships with local governments, housing authorities, non-profit providers, key institutions, and employers.

The results of these efforts are tangible: revitalized communities, with stable, sustainable housing, quality educational choices, access to economic opportunities, connections to retail and services, and enriched recreational and health options. These are communities of choice, not of last resort, where families can raise their children, seniors can age in place, and all people have the opportunity to thrive.

Our Vision

McCormack Baron Salazar is poised to help cities meet 21st century challenges head-on. We bring a comprehensive and workable approach to a complex development environment and our successes demonstrate our ability to deliver on the goals set for us by our clients: the cities, residents, authorities, institutions, and businesses of Urban America.

Through it all, we strive to achieve our vision: a future when all people live in sustainable, opportunity-rich communities.