Case Study: Community-Led Development

Creating a thriving commercial and cultural center

A transformative project that converted abandoned industrial property into a thriving commercial and cultural center. This initiative prioritized community ownership in an underinvested neighborhood, delivering impressive results: 69% of construction contracts to local minority businesses, 91% local resident employment with living wages, and the nation’s first “community development IPO” with 500 resident stockholders. Our leadership created a sustainable model where local entrepreneurs build alongside national tenants, demonstrating the power of inclusive development.

Summary

Large scale real estate and independent business development project extending over ten acres on a property that once housed an abandoned aerospace factory. Created as both a commercial and cultural center, the development included a large grocery store, ethnic restaurants, a fitness center, and an open-air amphitheater. An outdoor public art collection, in combination with the architectural style reflecting the artistic traditions of the diverse ethnic and cultural groups in the neighborhood, tells only part of the story. The project was envisioned and created as part of an emerging paradigm for resident ownership and entrepreneurial business creation in a historically under-invested neighborhood.

Challenge

Create and execute a deliberate process to involve residents as leaders, partners, and owners, not only in the holding company and individual businesses, but also in neighborhood transformation.

Outcome

Founded on a vision of prioritizing the development of emerging entrepreneurs in the community; a venue for local business people to build their enterprises side- by-side national tenants was created. Strata Venture Partners played a key leadership role in the implementation of the ground-breaking project resulting in a resident-led development effort and several nationally important breakthroughs:
– Minority contracting. 69 percent of the construction contracts were awarded to local minority-owned enterprises, totaling $7.1 million.
– Local hiring. 91 percent of the initial employees with the anchor tenant were local residents and included living wages, health care, and pension plans. New jobs created over 200 to date.
– Civic participation. 2,000 adults and over 1,000 youth participated in land planning, leasing, marketing, research, advocacy, and owner- ship design.
– Community equity in the project. As the nation’s first “community development IPO,” included over 500 residents as actual stockholders in the development.
– Venture investment and development. A seed-fund was created in partnership with a local CDFI, which funded start-up and operating capital to eight resident-owned businesses and provided business technical support to founders.