Auburn Communities Approach
Auburn Communities is a group of affiliated companies that grew from its founders’ vision of providing affordable, sustainable and pleasant communities for families and seniors in South and Central Florida. The company has developed over 5,000 affordable housing units in the state, including multi-family rental, condominium, and single-family.
Founded in 1987 as Florida Affordable Housing Inc. (FAHI), the company has evolved and grown with the leadership of its founders. Over the next 23 years, FAHI spun off several affiliated companies to develop and manage affordable communities through the state. Among the companies it created are Auburn Development, LLC, which became the primary development arm; Auburn Management, Inc. to manage its rental properties; Village by the Sea Realty, Inc., the real estate brokerage firm; Florida Affordable Mortgage Corp., the mortgage brokerage firm; and the umbrella organization, Auburn Communities.
Auburn Communities’ companies are proficient at optimizing government and private financing to provide critically needed housing to low- and moderate-income families and senior citizens. Auburn Trace, a 37-acre, 256-unit affordable housing development in Delray Beach, completed in 1990, was the first in Florida to use tax credit financing. Ashley Place (96 apartments on 10 acres in Orlando, completed in 1990), was first to use Florida’s “State Apartment Incentive Loan” (SAIL) program. The founders, along with their executive team, built the company on the belief that affordable housing can also be quality housing. The National Association of Home Builders recognized their Auburn Trace development as the “Finest Affordable Housing Community in the Nation.” The senior-living communities of Boynton Bay in Boynton Beach, The Groves of Delray in Delray Beach, and Walden Pond in North Miami, each received the National Council on Seniors Housing award for the “Finest Affordable Senior Housing in the Country” in their respective years of completion.
Our Services
Auburn Communities offers a full range of services for each community it develops, including:
- Acquisition/Disposition
- Asset Management
- Lease Up and Stabilization
- New Home Sales
- Mortgage Brokerage
- Real Estate Development
- Property Management
- Full Construction Services
- Finance/Capital Structuring
- Title Insurance
- Consulting Service
Meet the Team
Brian Hinners
Chief Executive Officer
Brian Hinners has over 35 years of real estate experience. Since joining Auburn Group in 1990, he has been instrumental in the development, leasing, sales, financing and management of the company’s Florida properties, which include affordable senior and family tax-credit apartments, single family homes, condominium homes and townhomes. These developments have won numerous awards including the National Association of Homebuilders “Finest Affordable Housing Community in the Nation” and the National Council on Senior’s Housing’s “Best of Senior’s Housing Award.”
Prior to joining Auburn Communities, Brian worked at the Barry Colliers Company, the largest industrial and commercial real estate brokerage firm in Wisconsin. His transactions included the sale of major facilities for Square D Company, Harley Davidson and Johnson Controls, as well as the sale of large retail-development parcels and national restaurant locations.
Brian was a panelist at the Institute for Professional and Executive Development seminar on “Housing the Non-Wealthy Elderly” in Washington, D.C. He served as treasurer and member of the board of directors for The Milagro Center, a Delray Beach non-profit organization serving low-income youth and he also has served on the board of the Mae Volen Senior Center. He also has served on the board of Palm Beach County Community Land Trust, chairing its acquisition and development committee, and has served on the board of the Gold Coast Builders Association as the Affordable Housing representative. Brian is a licensed mortgage broker and received his degree in Economics and Management from the University of Wisconsin.
Jessica Hinners
President
Jessica brings over twenty-two years of experience in the finance and real estate world. Jessica is an integral member of the management and development team. She focuses on the management of the operations and is responsible for analyzing the firm’s financial requirements.
Jessica previously worked as a Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Lending for twelve years for Fifth Third Bank and HSBC. She is a licensed real estate agent with Corcoran who engages in luxury and residential transactions.
Jessica received her Bachelor’s Degree from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Professional Studies in Real Estate at Georgetown University.
Lisa Hinners
Marketing Director
Lisa Hinners has over 20 years of marketing experience. She writes, edits and manages production of websites, brochures, direct mail, signage and print ads for Auburn Communities and its developments.
Prior to joining Auburn Communities, Lisa worked in a creative capacity for various organizations, including a daytime television program, an advertising agency and a national newspaper. For three years prior to joining Auburn Communities, she worked in public relations and wrote and edited a weekly on-line newsletter in the corporate communications department of NCCI in Boca Raton, the largest provider of workers compensation data in the nation.
Lisa studied liberal arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a bachelor of arts degree in english from St. Olaf College in Minnesota.