Joseph Reilly

Joseph F. Reilly has served as President and CEO of The Community Development Trust since 2007, leading the New York–based affordable-housing REIT and CDFI through the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic while tripling the organization in size. CDT provides long-term capital — both equity and debt — for the preservation of affordable multifamily housing, and requires that every investment both preserve affordability and deliver market-rate returns to its institutional investors.

Reilly's career in community development and affordable-housing finance spans more than 45 years. He began in 1978 with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, then joined the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development in 1983. In 1989 he moved to JPMorgan Chase, where he spent 18 years and rose to become the bank's National Manager for Community Development Real Estate, overseeing a staff of roughly 70 professionals financing affordable housing and community development projects across the United States. He joined CDT as President and CEO in 2007.

He earned a BBA from Iona College (1981) and completed the General Manager Program at Harvard Business School (2003). From 2007 to 2014 he also served as an adjunct professor of real estate finance at New York University. He has held board/leadership roles in the sector, including with the Raza Development Fund.

In November 2023, Reilly was inducted into the Affordable Housing Finance (AHF) Hall of Fame, recognized alongside industry figures such as Jonathan Rose, Jim Logue, Jenny Netzer, and John Rucker for career-long contributions to financing affordable housing.

• Invests exclusively in affordable multifamily rental housing in the U.S., through two complementary programs: an equity program (long-term ownership of affordable properties) and a debt program (long-term mortgage financing for affordable housing).
• Dual-bottom-line mandate: "Every CDT investment must preserve affordable housing and deliver market-rate returns to investors." CDT is structured as both a private REIT and a certified CDFI, so social impact and financial return are required simultaneously.
• Emphasis on preservation of existing affordable housing (keeping units affordable long-term) rather than early-stage or ground-up speculative risk.
• Under Reilly's leadership the firm has built an equity portfolio of 22,000+ units and a debt portfolio of 16,000+ units, together valued at more than $3.6 billion.
• Partners with local, regional, and national organizations — including mission-aligned developers, banks, and institutional co-investors — to source and structure deals.