Azeen Khanmalek

Over the past 4 years, Azeen has served as the Director of Affordable Housing Production across two Mayoral administrations, helping to lead the City of Los Angeles’ efforts to accelerate and expand the pipeline of affordable housing. As part of this work, he has worked to lead the implementation of the Mayor’s Executive Directive 1, which has expedited the approval and permitting of affordable housing projects by over 6 months. He has worked with an array of City Departments to drive forward new initiatives to streamline the permitting and approval process. In addition, Azeen has also led housing production policy development and advocacy for new housing production programs. This has included advocacy and implementation of large-scale programs like Project Homekey, revisions to the City’s Density Bonus implementation program, and implementation of the Housing Crisis Act. An urban planner by training, Azeen previously worked at the City’s Planning Department, where he worked to establish affordable housing incentive programs as part of the City’s zoning code update, and at the LA City Council, where he helped lead the approval of the City’s first ordinance regulating home-sharing. A native Angeleno, Azeen grew up in Palms and currently resides in Cypress Park with his wife and daughter. When not working, he enjoys reading, biking, playing tennis, and the outdoors.
 
Email: azeen@abundanthousingla.org