Andrea Kretchmer is a developer of affordable housing and mixed-use projects in New York and Connecticut. Andrea is a founding principal at Xenolith Partners LLC, a woman-owned affordable housing development firm based in Connecticut. She is also a founding principal of The Kretchmer Companies LLC, a woman-owned affordable housing development firm based in New York City.

In 2011, Andrea joined POKO Partners, LLC as a Managing Director in 2011. She led a number of POKO’s practice areas: acquisition and preservation of affordable housing, non-profit partnerships, and the development of city-owned sites. She was also responsible for project management, brownfield redevelopment and new business.

At The Kretchmer Companies, Andrea completed the development of Coney Island Commons, a 250,000 square-foot complex in Brooklyn, NY in 2013. CIC encompasses 195 rental apartments and a 43,000 sf YMCA, providing much needed community space for the neighborhood. With The Kretchmer Companies, she is also a developer of Stanley Commons, a 240-unit low-rise affordable apartment complex that broke ground in East New York Brooklyn in March 2015.

With POKO, Andrea completed construction on a number of projects in Connecticut, including the adaptive re-use of a historic mill in Stonington into 58 loft-style apartments. In New York, her recent preservation deals include the acquisition and moderate rehab of a 180-unit project-based Section 8 portfolio in the Bronx.

Prior to her career in affordable housing, Andrea was a practicing geologist. She has extensive experience in the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites throughout the New York metropolitan area. Her experience includes a wide scope of soil, surface water, ground water and ecological investigations associated with commercial and industrial sites. Andrea brings the unique combination of brownfield redevelopment and real estate development in-house to her development firms.

Andrea received her Bachelor’s Degree from Colgate University and her Master’s Degree in Geology from UCLA. Andrea sits on the Executive Committee and is the Membership Committee Chair at the New York State Association for Affordable Housing. She serves on the Boards of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and Congregation Rodeph Sholom. She is also the founder and co-chair of the Bronx Real Estate Summit.