James Lima
James Lima Planning + Development
James Lima (he/him) has extensive private and public sector experience in the planning and implementation of urban revitalization projects throughout North America. His real estate and economic advisory firm, James Lima Planning + Development (JLP+D), focuses on the economics of place making.
Prior to founding JLP+D in 2011, James was a partner at a national real estate and economic advisory firm focusing on affordable housing, community development, and waterfront revitalization. Under Mayor Bloomberg, he served as founding president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation.
James has been an assistant adjunct professor at Columbia University, where he has taught “Public-Private Partnerships in Real Estate Development.” James earned a B.A. from Columbia College and stayed on at Columbia to complete his master’s of science in real estate development. He is a frequent speaker at the Urban Land Institute and other conferences, and has lectured on urban redevelopment at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Syracuse, and in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Sao Paulo.
James is a board member of the Billion Oyster Project and ArtBridge, and served on the economic development committee of the fourth regional plan for the Regional Plan Association in New York.