Alfred Fraijo Jr.

Fraijo got into law to be a civil rights attorney. After law school, he worked for a nonprofit in San Francisco tackling brownfields and redevelopment in urban, underserved communities. He discovered that development and commercial redevelopment were the "perfect synergy" of law and his social equity and social justice work.

Fraijo handles real estate transactions for complex housing, mixed-use development, affordable housing and redevelopment. He works with clients interested in public/private partnerships, and with local governments on revitalizing and restoring neighborhoods that have been underinvested.

He sees his work as straddling three core areas of community health: housing, infrastructure and job creation.

"I always think of my work holistically - how does this project contribute long-term to the health of communities in California? I feel like I've created a unique portfolio of work with my clients that really contributes toward that end of making communities healthier," he said.

He represents Friends of the Hollywood Central Park in an infrastructure project that would create a new 38-acre park in Hollywood. The facility would transform unused air space above the Hollywood Freeway atop an engineered deck and support structure. The project creates a public park at street level and reunites communities historically separated by the freeway.

"This park would serve one of the most park-poor communities in all of California," Fraijo said. "This is a project I spearheaded from the very beginning, to not only bring this incredible resource to an underserved community, but also to serve as a catalyst for economic revitalization in the area."

In light of the pandemic, Fraijo said he's conversing with clients about how everyone is affected when communities are not resilient enough to overcome a natural disaster or public health emergency.

"Having healthy communities is integral to the bottom line, and this pandemic has only amplified that awareness," he said. "Policymakers and elected officials also have that awareness, so greater scrutiny is going to be applied to real estate development in the coming years. Being able to answer that question of how a project impacts or benefits the community will be central to our ability to get these projects approved."

-- Jennifer Chung Klam