The City of Durant is pleased to announce the hiring of the new Director of Community Development, Reed Aichholz.
Aichholz (pronounced eye-kholtz) a Cincinnati, Ohio native, arrives in Durant from College Station, Texas. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Aichholz possesses a Master of Real Estate degree with an emphasis in finance, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with an emphasis in economic development from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
His prior experience includes work in real estate development, with one of his most notable projects including a 3000 acre master plan for Millican Reserve, a conservancy project in College Station.
A great distance from home, Aichholz decided to remain near the Oklahoma/Texas border for two important reasons. “I married my wife, Allison, in January, and we wanted to settle closer to her family in DFW,” he said, “and my passion for holistic community development and placemaking led me to apply for the position here in Durant.”
The holistic community development approach focuses on developing communities that are walkable, architecturally cohesive, and inclusive of varied incomes with the primary goal of sustaining long term value.
Aichholz’s first official day at the City was Monday, October 16. Over the last few weeks, his time has been spent meeting with individuals, attending community functions, and getting a feel for life in Durant.
“I like it a lot. I really do,” he said. “I enjoy the relational aspects of meeting people in the community, like a lot of people in the Chamber of Commerce,” he added. “My favorite thing about the job so far has been the change mindset, of, everyone wants to do things to keep Durant beautiful, and to maintain a lot of the awesome things about Durant, but also to change.”
Along with the change mindset, Aichholz seeks to improve the quality of life in Durant by working to revise and clarify City codes, make Durant more developer-friendly and update technological resources in the Community Development department. He has already begun the search to select writers who specialize in form-based code to begin progressing toward these goals.
Aichholz is available and eager to meet with any community members or developers who would like to discuss the future of Durant. He can be reached by phone at 580-931-6613, or by email at raichholz@durant.org.