Jeff Burum

Jeffrey S. Burum is a Southern California-based real estate developer, affordable housing leader, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of the Diversified Pacific Development Group, a real estate development company, and founder of the affordable housing nonprofit National Community Renaissance (National CORE).

Early life and education

Burum grew up in humble circumstances in Maryland, where he lived with his mother and brother Phil and apart from this father. As a teenager, Burum moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he lived with his father, who died a couple years later.

Under the mentorship of Michael McLean, the stepson of actor Jimmy Stewart, Burum became an exceptional high school student in Phoenix and graduated with honors. When the local school district sought to close down his high school, Burum staged a peaceful sit-in and led students away from resorting to violence.

In the 1980s, Burum moved to California to attend Claremont McKenna College, where he had obtained a scholarship. He graduated in 1985 with a degree in international relations. Burum also studied Mandarin there and his senior thesis pertained to the reunification of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan.

Business career

After college, Burum moved to Rancho Cucamonga, California, where he started his career in real estate and continues to reside.

In 1990, Burum founded Diversified Pacific Development Corp. in Rancho Cucamonga. In 1997, Burum co-founded Colonies Partners LP, which bought several hundred acres of land adjacent to the Foothill Freeway in Upland, California for residential and commercial development, becoming the Colonies at San Antonio planned community and Colonies Crossroads shopping center.

In 1998, Burum and Matt Jordan founded Diversified Pacific Development Group, a homebuilding company focused on high-end, executive housing in the Inland Empire.

In 2008, Burum and Jordan founded the blind investment pool Diversified Pacific Opportunity Fund, with more than $60 million in private capital. The Fund, with Diversified Pacific Development Group serving as the Managing Member, currently owns more than 5,000 residential lots.

Burum has served on numerous boards, including AIG SunAmerica's Asset Management Company.

Colonies litigation

In March 2002, Burum sued San Bernardino County "after he and county officials reached an impasse over who was responsible for paying for flood-control improvements at the Colonies' development." The lawsuit charged "that the county's flood control easements did not permit the county to direct at least 80 million gallons of water per hour... onto Colonies' property." In November 2006, after several court victories and a five year legal battle, the county approved a $102 million settlement with Colonies.

In July 2009, the San Bernadino District Attorney's Office announced it was investigating alleged corruption related to the Colonies' settlement in 2006. In May 2011, a 29-count indictment was filed against Burum, former San Bernardino County supervisor Paul Biane, former chief of staff for San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt Mark Kirk, and former assistant county assessor Jim Erwin. The charges included "conspiracy, bribery, conflict of interest, misappropriation of public funds, forgery and perjury."

In pre-trial litigation, which involved two oral arguments before the California Court of Appeal and one before the California Supreme Court, each of the seven charges against Burum was dismissed by courts at least twice, "in the end leaving four bribery-related charges that were reinstated by appellate courts or charging amendments by the prosecution." In January 2017 the trial began and after nearly eight months, jurors found Burum, Biane, and Kirk not guilty of all charges on August 28.

Following the verdict, Burum's attorney, Stephen G. Larson of Larson O'Brien LLP, said, "We asked the jury to return a quick verdict to send a message to the prosecution, and they did, returning across-the-board acquittals in less than five hours of deliberation... We said all along that this is a case that should not have been brought — that they were innocent and this was a political persecution. The jury agreed."

Affordable housing initiatives

In 1991, Burum began to promote affordable housing initiatives with the foundation of the nonprofit Southern California Housing Development Corp. The mission of the organization was to "provide quality affordable housing and community centers where residents could obtain onsite job training, day care and other social services." In 1996, Burum founded Hope Through Housing, "an organization providing programs and day care and job training for adults."

In 1998, Burum established the National Housing Development Corp. (NHDC), where he served as executive director, to advance affordable housing on a national scale by "acquiring at-risk affordable housing developments and transferring them to local nonprofit housing providers."

In 2000, Burum was named as one of the 22 members of the congressional Millennial Housing Commission, which focused on America's affordable housing needs.

In 2006, Burum formed National Community Renaissance (National CORE) by combining Southern California Housing and NHDC, and he assumed the role of CEO. In 2009, Affordable Housing Finance magazine ranked National CORE as the nation's number one nonprofit developer and the country's third largest affordable housing provider. As of September 2017, "National CORE manages nearly 9,000 affordable, senior and market-rate units in California, Arkansas, Texas and Florida."

Political fundraising

Burum, a Republican, "has given millions of dollars in campaign contributions to federal and state lawmakers, San Bernardino County supervisors, local city council members and political action committees," affiliated with both the Republicans and Democrats.

Burum supported the candidacy of Mitt Romney in the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries. He was a member of Romney's California delegate slate and a part of his "California Business and Technology Coalition."

Burum has alleged that San Bernadino County's prosecution of him in the Colonies matter was "political persecution" to silence his political activism.

Philanthropy

According to The Press-Enterprise, Burum has contributed to "more than two dozen charities throughout Southern California," "including a scholarship fund and an education program for government officials at his alma mater Claremont McKenna College."

In 2007, Burum founded Colonies Crossroads Holiday Miracles, an annual Inland Empire charitable event that provides disadvantaged children with shopping sprees during the Christmas and holiday season at the Colonies Crossroads shopping center. Before the shopping sprees, the participating children and their parents meet celebrities, which have included Los Angeles sports Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, James Worthy and Tommy Lasorda. As of 2017, the event has served nearly 2,000 underprivileged children.

Burum volunteered in 1990 as a census worker counting migrant workers living in camps in Rancho Cucamonga.

Personal life

Burum lives in Rancho Cucamonga, California with his wife Kellie and two children.