Atlanta commercial real estate broker and cultural developer Gene Kansas joins MA!'s Elayne DeLeo for a conversation on how his childhood in the gumbo of New Orleans inspired his love of storytelling, his work to save the historic Atlanta Daily World Building in Sweet Auburn, and the responsibility of developers and humankind to create "affordable everything".
In his 20+ years in Atlanta commercial real estate — and inspired by a colorful, deep-fried, parade-filled, culturally rich upbringing in New Orleans, LA — Gene Kansas has garnered a reputation as a champion of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, community building, and storytelling through the built environment. Each Gene Kansas project aims to blend an appreciation of culture and history with creative, responsible, and vital refashioning that brings new relevance to space and how it is used by clients, neighborhoods, and the city.