COVINGTON, Ky. — After more than five years helping shape Covington’s neighborhoods and housing efforts, Brandon Holmes is stepping into a new leadership role as the City’s Executive Director of Community Development.
Holmes, who previously served as Director of Neighborhood Services, will now lead the City’s newly formed Community Development Department, bringing Neighborhood Services and Economic Development together under one department.
Holmes joined the City in 2021 as Assistant Director of Neighborhood Services after working in housing development for Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission. Within about 60 days, he transitioned into leading Neighborhood Services as its director.
“What initially brought me to Covington was an opportunity to expand the community development work I was already doing,” Holmes said. “What has kept me here for over five years is the opportunity to make a direct, tangible impact on the community and the people who call Covington home.”
For Holmes, his time leading Neighborhood Services reinforced the importance of keeping people at the center of local government.
“You can have great programs, policies, and resources, but what matters is whether residents can actually see and feel the impact in their neighborhoods and in their daily lives,” Holmes said.
During his time with the City, Holmes led efforts to put surplus real estate back into productive use for housing development and helped improve the use of federal resources for housing production.
He also led an overhaul of Neighborhood Investment Partners, or NIP, including stabilizing its 132-unit rental portfolio. He is now leading the development of 20 new homes through the organization.
“Through NIP, I’ve been able to put city surplus real estate back into productive use via new home construction and leverage federal resources to produce true workforce housing in Covington,” Holmes said.
In his new role, Holmes will focus on bringing Neighborhood Services and Economic Development together while maintaining strong customer service and community engagement.
“Effective engagement means listening to residents, understanding their priorities and concerns, involving them early in decision-making, and creating opportunities for them to help shape projects, programs, and policies,” Holmes said.
His priorities also include getting all City surplus lots into the hands of local developers by the end of 2027 and helping guide development of a new neighborhood at the Covington Central Riverfront.
And while his responsibilities are expanding, Holmes said what makes Covington special hasn't changed.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work in dozens of neighborhoods and communities in multiple states throughout my career; Covington is by far my favorite and it’s because of the people and the willingness to work with the city to solve problems,” Holmes said.
For Holmes, what he loves most about Covington comes down to three things:
“The people, energy, and progress we have made as a City in recent years.”