Steven Jacobs, AICP, Principal

Steven Jacobs, Principal at BJH Advisors and co-Director of Urban Planning, is a real estate, economic development and urban planning professional. He has almost 20 years experience working as project manager, advisor and strategist for a wide range of public and private sector clients. Steve combines his strong national focus on higher education, nonprofit organizations, and local governments with his deep knowledge of New York City’s development and government landscape. 

At U3 Advisors, Steve served as lead project manager for planning and development projects for many of the firm’s academic clients, including Cornell University, The New School, Amherst College, New York Medical College, and New York University, among many others. For the District of Columbia Steve assisted the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development identify a master developer for the St. Elizabeth’s East Project in addition to managing a solicitation process for an academic anchor at the site. For Case Western Reserve University, Steve helped to formulate and implement a development plan for a 14-acre site adjacent to the University campus. For Cornell University, he assisted Cornell NYC Tech during the process to receive public approvals from the City of New York. 

Prior to joining U3 Advisors, Steve worked for the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), where he helped to create New York City’s policy to attract biotechnology companies and to establish a regional approach to building a commercial life sciences cluster. 

As Vice President in the Transportation Division of NYCEDC, Steve was also project manager for a number of real estate and transportation projects, including renewal of the City’s lease to the Port Authority for John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports. 

Steve earned a BA in Political Science and History from George Washington University, and a Masters in Public Administration, concentration in Urban Planning, from Columbia University. Steve is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at New York University and a member of the Urban Land Institute.

  • For the Westchester County Office of Economic Development, led BJH’s work to complete a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for the county. This strategy identified Westchester’s most resilient industry sectors in a post-COVID context and outlined policies and initiatives that the county government could pursue to support and grow these industries.

    Since January 2021, has worked closely with the Office of the Westchester County Executive to implement the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy’s recommendations, engage local industry leaders, track progress, and identify further opportunities for growth.

    For the New York City Department of City Planning and VHB, led a market study of New York City’s hotels and lodging sector. This study examined existing conditions in the sector both pre-COVID and since the advent of the pandemic, in addition to providing a ten-year outlook with projections for post-COVID recovery. This hotel market study served as an important foundation for a socioeconomic analysis that Steve also managed as part of the environmental review process for a proposed citywide special permit for new hotel development in New York City. The New York City Planning Commission approved the zoning text amendment for the special permit in October 2021.

    For the New York City Department of Housing, Preservation and Development and VHB, undertook a socioeconomic analysis as part of the environmental review process for multiple discretionary land use actions required for implementation of the Resilient Edgemere Community Planning Initiative, which will create resilient and permanently affordable housing in the Edgemere neighborhood of the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. The socioeconomic analysis evaluated the proposed project’s potential direct and indirect impacts related to residential and business displacement.

    For Madison Realty Capital and Langan Engineering, completed a socioeconomic analysis as part of the environmental review process for discretionary land use actions that were required for development of a residential project on Staten Island comprising 700 units, 30 percent of which would be affordable. The New York City Planning Commission approved the project in October 2021.

  • Master of Public Administration, Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs

    Bachelor of Arts, George Washington University

  • Certified Planner, American Institute of Certified Planners

    Member, American Planning Association

    Member, Urban Land Institute

  • Board Member, Coney Island USA