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Bart Cochran Founder and CEO LEAP Housing
Powerlist – Bart Cochran – Founder and CEO – LEAP Housing
IBR Staff//July 22, 2024//
With 16 years as the founder and CEO of LEAP Housing, Bart Cochran didn’t set out to work in the nonprofit world, but it’s exactly where he was meant to be. He said that after seeing a large group of Idahoans being left behind by the housing market, he wanted to use his real estate expertise to help bridge the gap for those folks. Since the organization’s inception, Cochran has been able to do just that, and has also been privy to seeing many changes within the Idaho housing industry.
“My most significant professional accomplishment is ensuring 25 income-constrained Idaho households now have the generational wealth building opportunity of homeownership,” he said.
“Among many changes in the market, including 7%-plus interest rates, increasing construction costs, lagging wages and skyrocketing median sales prices, households earning below 80% area median income … purchased a home in a market that has otherwise left them unable to do so. My work has benefitted Idaho by bringing financially attainable housing to households that are the backbone of what makes the state so great.”
Looking ahead, Cochran is excited about what’s coming. He aims to capitalize a $10 million housing impact fund that will provide below-market interest rates to entities creating or preserving affordable housing in Idaho. Those funds would be deployed to communities across the state, which would ultimately benefit the economic vibrancy of the state.
