Laurel Hart is the Vice President of Asset Management and Preservation for Columbia Residential. In this position, Laurel is responsible for leadership, strategy, and implementation of Columbia’s policies for sustaining its portfolio, which includes 7,500 affordable and mixed-income apartments located in Georgia, Texas, Florida and Louisiana.

Prior to joining Columbia, Laurel was part of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) leadership team for more than eighteen years. As Director of Housing Finance and Development, she was responsible for the administration and operation of Georgia’s affordable housing programs for the financing and/or development of multi-family affordable housing.

Before she started her tenure at DCA, Laurel was a practicing attorney in Chicago for more than 20 years.

Laurel has a Juris Doctor from Chicago Kent College of Law. She is also a graduate of the Executive Development Program at the University of Notre Dame.