Wilmington Housing Authority Names Tyrone Garrett As Executive Director

WILMINGTON, NC – The Wilmington Housing Authority (WHA) announced that it has named Tyrone Garrett as its new Executive Director. His appointment was approved by the Authority’s Board of Commissioners at its May board meeting. He began his position on Monday, May 16th.

As Executive Director, Mr. Garrett will oversee all WHA operations, including public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs. He will manage its real estate development programs and serve as principal liaison with the U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He also will oversee the Authority’s financial operations and lead a staff of 60.

Mr. Garrett’s first objective will be to accelerate the rehousing of families displaced from homes that have been contaminated by mold. In addition to rebuilding staff, he will need to initiate the rebuilding of the Hillcrest property in coordination with the City of Wilmington, New Hanover Country, HUD and the development partner.

“Tyrone Garrett has demonstrated a passion for public housing over his many years in the sector,” said Al Sharp, Chair of the WHA Board of Commissioners. “He is the right person to lead WHA to a re-envisioned future. His skills include knowledge of negotiations for redevelopment projects, development and operationalizing resident training programs, and working with city and county partnerships. He will bring energy and urgency to the role. He has knowledge of our current situation and is ready to join us in building the future.”

Mr. Garrett has more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive in public housing and government. Most recently, he was Chief Executive Officer of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) where he spearheaded a $2 billion transformation plan to preserve, stabilize and redevelop the entire DCHA portfolio.

Mr. Garrett also served fifteen years as the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Long Branch (LBHA) in New Jersey.

Within the first two years of his appointment, he took the Authority from a distressed condition to one with consistently high performing ratings. He guided its first redevelopment project through a $20 million HOPE VI grant (a HUD program). In subsequent years under Mr. Garrett’s leadership, the LBHA was awarded Tax Credit Awards totaling over $72 million. These funds were used to build 429 rental units, multiple home ownership units and a state-of-the-art community center.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Garrett was Executive Director of the Ewing Township (New Jersey) Redevelopment Agency and was the Urban Initiatives Coordinator for the City of Newark Housing Authority.

Mr. Garrett received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and was awarded a Juris Doctorate from the Rutgers University School of Law. He also conducted further professional studies at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

WHA worked with Gans, Gans & Associates (GGA), a Florida-based executive search firm specializing in public housing executives to identify the most appropriate candidates. GGA conducted a nationwide search and vetting process which resulted in five semi-finalists who were interviewed virtually by a screening committee of four Board members. On April 18 and 19, the top three outstanding candidates were invited to Wilmington to meet with the full Board, key staff members, and to tour

WHA properties. Following the in-person interviews, the Board met in executive session to consider each candidate and selected Tyrone Garrett for the leadership position.