According to the 2015 “The Color of Wealth in Boston” report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the average net worth for Black households in the Greater Boston region was $8, compared to nearly $250,000 for white households.
In response to the jarring statistic, three Black leaders in Boston came together to start BREIF, the Boston Real Estate Inclusion Fund. The fund is a way for more people, especially people of color, to invest in real estate — even if they don't have a million dollars to spend.
“The underpinning of both what Darryl [Settles] and I are trying to do is respond to the 2015 Federal Reserve report,” Richard Taylor, one of the leaders for BREIF, and former vice president of development at FMR Properties Inc., said on Boston Public Radio. “It stated rather dramatically that there was significant income inequality between Blacks and whites, as well as net worth. And so we ... thought that one of the ways to increase Black and brown wealth in the city — women as well — is to have them invest side-by-side with institutions on fairly big projects.”
Taylor mentioned the Omni Boston Hotel in the Seaport and the Tishman Speyer-led project in Allston as examples of more inclusive efforts. The Omni hotel has been recognized as a model because it forced developers to include women and people from minority groups all throughout their teams.
Darryl Settles, president of Catalyst Ventures Development and another BREIF leader, noted that minorities and women are often left out of major deals.
“One of the things that people don’t really understand is when you do these bigger deals, most of the money comes from institutional money,” he explained. “So a large developer doesn’t really have to go out and raise a ton of money, they can go to family and friends to get that money, so that way it leaves everyone else out.”
Taylor and Settles have over 30 years of experience in building the city. They both had experiences where they were excluded because of their race.
“For 25 years we were relegated to small neighborhood deals and couldn’t do deals downtown,” Taylor stated.
The two said people can get discouraged when it comes to real estate investment, and explained how BREIF aims to change that.
“Most of these deals require you to be a qualified investor. It means you have to have a net with of a million dollars, not including your primary home,” Settles explained. “We’re [BREIF] going to have separate components of where investors can come in. One with the qualified investor and then the community investor or those that have less than $50,000.”
In addition to increasing the amount of minority investors, Taylor asserted that minorities in leadership positions must have the courage to speak up and push for change.
“One would think that because you come from a diverse group, you would be more proactive to change things," Taylor said. "Many do not.”
Settles agreed.
“A lot of people that were in power before, they just sat there. They didn’t do anything, they were afraid. If they said the wrong thing, they could’ve lost their job.”
He was hopeful that with initiatives like BREIF, things will change.
“Now you have a combination of people that are doing well, and young people who are not afraid to speak up," he said. "Now all those parties are working together to make things happen.”
