To help with its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts surrounding its proposed new arena, the Philadelphia 76ers brought in a company that considers itself “the poster child of ready, diverse development in the city.”
To help with its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts surrounding its proposed new arena, the Philadelphia 76ers brought in a company that considers itself “the poster child of ready, diverse development in the city.”
Mosaic Development Partners built their reputation over the past 15 years, through economic and social turmoil, to become a key player in the field of real estate construction. Leslie Smallwood-Lewis and Gregory Reaves started working together at another firm in 2004 before they “stepped out of faith” in 2008 and started their own company.
“We just were realizing while we were there that there weren’t people in the space that looked like us,” Smallwood-Lewis said. “2008, in July, we made a decision that we were going out on our own and really try to do development our way, in an equitable way. We wanted to be able to build a company where we could help grow Black and female-owned businesses, as we grew our company.”
Mosaic launched right before the Great Recession disrupted the economy, forcing the new firm to shift as well. That gave them an opportunity to go after bigger projects instead of individual properties. One major issue was finding financing for those deals. Small Business Association loans don’t work on projects that take years for design, approvals, permitting, construction, and securing tenants. Smallwood-Lewis referred to long-term capital as “patient money.”
“For us to even have a project pitch or take to an investor, you have to spend money on architects, engineers, acquisition deposits, attorneys, that’s all this money at risk in hopes that this project becomes something,” Smallwood-Lewis said. “We had to be so careful in our spending. We didn’t have the luxury of mistakes.”
Source: The Philadelphia Tribunal
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