In a move aimed at creating greater inclusion in the Dallas housing market, the Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) is welcoming up-and-coming real estate developers of color to join a unique real estate program. Launched in 2018 by the nonprofit Capital Impact Partners, the EDI has worked with almost 200 diverse developers and is currently operating in Detroit, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Thanks in part to funding from JP Morgan Chase and Charles Schwab, the Dallas area is the fourth metropolis where EDI’s free program offers mentorship, training, and financing support.

In Dallas, around twenty emerging real estate developers will come together with development professionals and local real estate experts for workshops that focus on the opportunities for, and challenges facing, minority developers in metropolitan areas. EDI’s program also offers mentorship, with participants getting one-on-one guidance on specific real-estate endeavors. This includes pairing attendees with a finance mentor, and working with Capital Impact pros to fine tune the art of financing applications and connect with financing professionals.

Meeting the Diverse Needs of Dallas

The initiative comes at a time when the Dallas area is growing increasingly diverse and is already more diverse than the state at large and the country as a whole. In 2020, Dallas County had a score of 70.7% on the Diversity Index of the U.S. Census, higher than both the Texas state score of 67% and the overall national score of 61.1%. As communities of color are a growing demographic in Dallas, they are facing increasing hardships due to rising home prices and shrinking inventory; there is about a 20,000 unit shortfall of affordable homes in Dallas today.

Discrimination is also an issue. Capital Impact’s Raymond Guthrie recently told a gathering at Fair Park’s Texas Discovery Gardens, “Because you’re black, because of your skin, you walk into a room and you say I want to develop this piece of property. And they look at you as a risk, they look at you as a challenge.” The Equitable Development Initiative seeks to help remedy some of that with a focus on development projects in historically marginalized communities in Southern Dallas.

First United shares this commitment to housing equity, offering loan programs for a wide range of budgets, from FHA loans and USDA loans that are tailored to meet the needs of low- to mid-income homebuyers, to lending options for higher-income borrowers. Give us a call today at (972) 591-3097 to speak with a loan specialist.