Our Team

Principal Profile - Jay C. Juergensen

With roots in rural Berrien County, Michigan, Mr. Juergensen brings more than eighteen (18) years of diversified educational and professional experience to his present leadership of Juergensen & Associates' affiliated companies and community ventures. During this time Jay has provided expertise to local units of government and community organizations on issues of public policy, community and economic revitalization, process improvement, and project implementation. With an initial focus of project management, Juergensen & Associates (J&A) has expanded into a wide array of development, management, and planning services.

Jay's academic background includes a Master of Architecture degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan, where he received the Alpha Rho Chi Medal of Honor. A concentration in urban planning and revitalization, management and real estate development provided a stepping stone for Jay's subsequent work in the community.

Jay recently completed the requirements for certification from the National Development Council in Economic Development Finance.

He is recognized by the U. S. Department of Housing & Urban Development as a Certified Technical Assistance Contractor and by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority as an Approved Technical Assistance Provider. In 2003, Jay expects to complete the requirements of the National Reinvestment Training Institute established to receive a Community Economic Development Certificate. Jay is also a Licensed Residential Builder in the State of Michigan.

As president of Juergensen & Associates, Jay has been actively involved in many varied projects. He is currently the management team leader for Revitalife, a program developed by the Governor of the State of Michigan and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority for disposition of several thousand state-owned, tax-reverted properties in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park.

Jay has secured more than $10 million in grant funding from private and public sources for clients and has implemented or managed a portfolio totaling $60 million of real estate planned, under construction or complete.

His experience also includes directly renovating and managing $2 million of rental property and administering projects whose range includes 100,000 SF/$10 million industrial facilities, single family new homes, historic additions and renovations, homeless shelters and transitional housing developments.

In 1996, Jay lent his expertise to the Detroit Housing Commission as Assistant General Manager of the Modernization & Development Division. In this post, he oversaw an unprecedented $400 million investment in Public Housing city-wide. Following his engagement with the City, Jay returned to the helm of his own projects.

Along with J&A, he also established JC Housing, Inc., a licensed building company, whose tagline, "Breathing New Life into Detroit's Vintage Homes" communicates the expressed mission of strengthening Detroit's neighborhoods by emphasizing the renovation of older or historically significant structures. In partnership, Jay also built new homes in Victoria Park, the first detached single-family residential subdivision in Detroit in more than thirty (30) years.

He is currently completing the renovation of more than twenty (20) rental units on Detroit’s eastside and is a principal in Fox Creek Properties, its management company.

Jay works to revitalize distressed communities in Detroit by lending his professional expertise to the community. He is Past President of the Jefferson East Business Association, past President of the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative, and served as a member of Eastside Industrial Corridor In-Place Industrial Park Task Force.

He also serves on the City of Detroit City Planning Commission's Zoning Advisory Group and was appointed as co-chair of the State of Michigan - Consumer & Industry Services - Rehabilitation Code Committee to create an alternative building code for the renovation of existing buildings. His is also a member of the Economic Development Committee of the Community & Economic Development Association of Michigan.

Jay has served as a Guest Lecturer, Visiting Critic, Tour Guide & Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, Lawrence Technological University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.

In 2001, the Michigan Housing Trust Fund recognized him as an Affordable Housing Warrior and the Metropolitan Detroit Preservation League honored him with their Winged Lion Award. In 1995, he was recognized as a young community leader by Crain's Detroit Business "40 Under 40" and was included in the Detroit Free Press feature, “Faces of the 21st Century.”

Team Profiles

Detailed profiles describing the skills and qualifications of our associates are provided with project proposals. The following is a brief synopsis of the expertise of some of our team members.

Mike Hickey - Since 1978, Mr. Hickey has assisted clients with residential, commercial, and industrial real estate challenges in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. As a Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Michigan, Mike has worked extensively with affordable, low and very-low income multi-family and single family housing developers. Mike's broad experience provides valuable leadership to the Revitalife Tax-Reverted Properties project.

Damain Colden - Mr. Colden is a Professional Engineer with more than fourteen (14) years of experience in capital project planning and facilities management. He recently assisted the Detroit Housing Commission in implementing a $400 million capital program and has worked with other public housing authorities throughout Michigan and around the country including Ann Arbor, Saginaw, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh.

John Morey - A Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan provides the basis for over thirty-one (31) years of design and construction experience that Mr. Morey brings to the firm. With primary responsibility for the physical aspects of projects, his attention to detail and design skills make him an important member of our team. His combination of specific field experience and strategic thinking ability help guide project work, primarily in the development of realistic project scenarios. John supports the team with strategy evaluation, conceptual and detailed cost estimating, and project planning and scheduling.

Richard M. Karp – Originally from Detroit, Mr. Karp worked for the large institutional general contractor Quadrants of Livonia while attending Michigan State University's Building Construction Management Program at the onset of his fourteen (14) years of experience. After founding Buildtech Ltd. Construction + Development, he quickly was embraced as a leader in the revitalization of Lansing's Old Town. Utilizing Historic Rehabilitation and Low Income Housing Tax Credits, along with HOME funds and other municipal grants and loans, he proceeded to adaptively reuse hundreds of thousands of square feet of historic commercial buildings, completing projects totaling over $10 million. His work has won him acclaim and may awards including the Lansing Historic District Commission's Preservation Stewardship Award and Franklin Street to Main Street's Entrepreneurial Spirit in Restoration of Historic Properties Award.

Stephen McCoy - Mr. McCoy has worked in the community development industry for more than twenty (20) years in Detroit and throughout the nation. He is a certified Community and Economic Development Specialist, and holds a Bachelor of Political Science degree from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as a Master of Public Administration from the University of Detroit.

Michael Scholl - A Detroit native, Mr. Scholl has a Master Degree in Public Policy and Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. His combination of more than twelve years of local and national public policy and urban planning experience give him a unique advantage in his work on a variety of projects as staff planner with J & A.