Dr. Gina Merritt is a nationally recognized, award-winning real estate developer and the visionary force behind NREUV (Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures), a firm dedicated to socially equitable development and systems-level change. With over 25 years in the industry, Dr. Merritt has been involved in the development of more than 8,000 housing units, impacting over 19,000 residents across the country. Her leadership spans the full development lifecycle—from entitlements and financing to design and construction—earning her more than 30 industry awards, including 11 in the past year alone.

Dr. Merritt is known for her ability to lead complex, high-stakes development projects, often involving layered capital stacks, public-private partnerships, and intricate ownership structures. She has personally underwritten over $5 billion in real estate transactions, with a portfolio that includes mixed-use developments, multifamily housing, single-family homes, condominiums, and large-scale neighborhood revitalization efforts.

As a child, I lived in affordable housing. I took care of my siblings, tried to focus on school, and lost my mother at 13. But I always knew that I had to do the best for myself and my community. That is why I am an affordable housing developer now. It took a lot, as a young adult, to overcome my challenges, but my passion to uplift others just like me–my understanding of the potential and capacity that others in affordable housing and low-income communities had, pushed me through.

Currently, her firm NREUV is managing over $550 million in active development projects, with $200 million in Cleveland and the remainder across the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region. NREUV also previously served as a trusted advisor to institutional partners, including the University of Virginia’s Affordable Housing Initiative and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, where the firm recently led a landmark Sustainability Study. NREUV currently provides development management services to Beacon Properties, a faith-based organization headquartered in Washington, DC. NREUV is assisting in the development of a workforce development project located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.
But what sets Dr. Merritt apart is not just the scale of her work—it’s the soul of it.

Drawing from her own lived experience growing up in affordable housing and losing her mother at a young age, Dr. Merritt developed a deep personal commitment to creating opportunity and economic mobility for those historically left behind.