Lance Robbins, Urban Smart Growth's (USG) CEO and founder, passed away. He was 76.
Lance founded USG in 2004 after first rehabilitating over 6,000 distressed inner city apartment units in Los Angeles. Over the next 20 years at USG, he dedicated himself to enhancing communities in order to breathe life back into old worlds. Whether it was a factory, school, warehouse or other complex, he thrived by bringing new opportunities to these structures so that they were able to flourish once again under new operations.
His goal for the company was to achieve a unique sense of community and expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing choices while preserving and enhancing natural and cultural resources. Thanks to his steadfast dedication to this mission, USG expanded coast-to-coast with properties in 13 cities in eight states.
Lance created a family wherever he went and had friends and loved ones all over the world. He was a community builder in life and in work, as his motto was "good community is good business." Lance was known for his vast charitable work including mental health advocacy, criminal justice reform and caring for people recovering from substance abuse. He was also a passionate advocate on the prevention of human trafficking.
A native of Los Angeles, Lance was a graduate of UCLA and Berkeley Law. At Berkeley, Lance endowed a chair to specifically focus on social justice and countering drug addiction.
He is survived by his three children: Becka, Zack and Alexa.
The USG team is dedicated to continuing Lance's vision and future for the company moving forward.
