Developer RISE’s projects include offices, lab space and 124 residential units in Charlestown’s Sullivan Square. Image courtesy of CBT Architects
The real estate development industry has the power to change lives. Unfortunately, most of our industry is still operating with an “old playbook,” one that prioritizes financial benefit at the expense of social benefit.
The legacy decision systems that are still at play today perpetuate a closed-loop network that disproportionately impacts communities of color and underrepresented voices in our neighborhoods. In the development world, the considerations that go into the planning of projects rarely feature methods for integrating new principles, practices and frameworks for creating positive societal change. As a minority-owned development firm, RISE operates with a fundamentally unique business model and set of guiding principles that places equitable development as a centerpiece in our mission.
The need for equitable development is one of the key reasons that leadership at RISE believes well-planned real estate development must have an impact far beyond a building’s footprint. Recognizing the historical processes that have too often sidelined the neighborhoods where people of color live, RISE is committed to writing a new playbook and leading as a model for equitable development by generating a combination of strong economic and social returns that foster growth opportunities to enrich the neighborhoods that we help build.
Defining Equitable Development
So, what exactly is equitable development and why is it so difficult for leaders in our industry to grasp? “Equity” is often used in the commercial real estate development industry to describe financial capital, and there is often no debate of what it is and no doubt of the importance of its value. Yet, when we use the word “equity” in the context of human capital to describe social equity, gender equity or racial equity, it becomes elusive.
The Urban Land Institute recently published a report titled “10 Principles for Embedding Racial Equity in Real Estate Development” which details equitable practices that deliver financial and social benefits not only to developers and their project partners, but also to the local community and the larger region. These points begin with building your own understanding of racial equity principles and ensuring that fairness is a foundational element of your business.
Herby Duverné
The RISE framework for equitable development is built off of a body of research from the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, and the Urban Land Institute that aims to put into practice an approach to development and construction that generates positive quality of life outcomes in the communities that we build. By integrating these equitable outcomes into our thinking, we are striving to build places that help manifest equitable access to health environments, affordable housing, quality education, living-wage employment and accessible transportation.
Addressing Greater Boston’s Housing Shortage
The need for more affordable housing is a driving factor in the development of every RISE project proposal. With over 1,400 housing units completed and under development in our pipeline, we have made a standard commitment to a minimum of 20 percent affordability, exceeding the city of Boston’s 13 percent affordable housing requirement. We are also committed to prioritizing housing for veterans and creating a homeownership program for families in Charlestown, where we are currently working on the Sullivan Square project, including a commitment to build family-sized units.
The need for financial support of workforce development pipelines is a critical component of building pathways to living wage jobs. As we build this leg of our equitable development strategy, we seek to build on important educational partnerships with institutions such as Cambridge College at the project level. This commitment generates equitable outcomes so that residents in underserved communities have a pathway to roles in construction, commercial real estate and life sciences.
Taidgh McClory
These are just a few of the examples of how we are writing a new narrative and new playbook for equitable development. We believe that real estate development shapes the world we live in and we look forward to serving as a model for our fellow peers in the industry. Let’s commit to equity from the very genesis of a new project. At RISE, we are building our development proformas with equitable development inputs, outputs and outcomes in a deliberate manner to capture and quantify the financial and social value of the return on investment to the community.
Our vision urges the public and private sector players to consistently ask prospective developers how their participation in a project would support this larger goal. By making this a standard operating procedure and embedding it into our business model, we can effect widespread change in the ways that we think about development.
Let’s also look inside and outside our own organizations and bring in the diverse voices that will help us expand our understanding and strengthen our ability to bring change that matters. In the end, we all benefit when we focus our powerful energies to create outcomes that uplift everyone.
Herby Duverné is CEO and founder of Boston-based development firm RISE and Taidgh H. McClory is founder and social impact entrepreneur at T.H. McClory LLC.
