Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District Launches “LPCCD Green Suite” Real Estate Development Training Program

LINCOLN PARK COAST CULTURAL DISTRICT LAUNCHES

“LPCCD GREEN SUITE” REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT TRAINING PROGRAM

Sponsored by

PROVIDENT BANK, VALLEY BANK, HORIZON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF NJ

BALDWIN EQUITIES, HANINI GROUP

On Monday, February 1st, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District (LPCCD) launched “LPCCD Green Suite: The Business of Real Estate Development Training Program” on the first day of Black History Month. “LPCCD Green Suite” runs through April 21st, 2021. The mission of “LPCCD Green Suite” is to create generational wealth in communities of color and provide access to this business sector for Black Indigenious Persons of Color (BIPOC), Persons of Color (POC), Women of Color (WOC) who are vastly underrepresented in the real estate development sector.  “LPCCD Green Suite” is sponsored by the State of New Jersey’s Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program (NRTC), through Provident Bank, Valley Bank and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.  NRTC is designed to foster the revitalization of New Jersey’s distressed neighborhoods. 

Program partner Samer Hanini, Managing Partner at Hanini Group states “We are happy to participate in such an important project. Helping teach other local firms to develop real estate is something we feel is important in creating a pipeline of work for the future of Newark. The city has undergone so many great changes that have preserved and enhanced neighborhoods.  We want this momentum sustained.”

LPCCD Green Suite builds upon the foundation laid by Lincoln Park’s “LPCCD Green Cap” initiative, which was one of the nation’s first Green Job Training Programs in 2008-09 which provided a pipeline of entry-level workers for the new jobs that were created as a result of the State’s Energy Master Plan and the New Jersey Clean Plan energy efficient-projects under former Governor Jon Corzine.  Anthony Smith, Executive Director, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District states “Recently, I talked about the challenges of “Developing While Black” on my podcast, the Lincoln Park Sustainable Living Community Podcast.  While doing the research for the episode, we found that a 2019 study by Harvard Business School and Bella Research identified only 17 women-owned and 21 minority-owned real estate investment firms among the total universe of 967 firms listed in the Prequin database, less than 5% of the industry.  LPCCD Green Suite seeks to change that narrative, disrupt gentrification and make a tangible, equitable impact in the community of Newark where there are many cranes in the sky, but a lack of Black real estate developers”.

At the end of the 11-week program, participants will present the one-page business plan they have been developing and refining during the prior sessions.  Participants will receive feedback and suggestions from a panel of experienced developers and other City of Newark stakeholders.   Graduates with business plans that fit the needs of such projects can propose potential roles for their company–as an equity investor, joint venture partner, subcontractor or other roles.  

“LPCCD Green Suite” participant Kimberlee Williams states “As a resident of the Lincoln Park community in Newark and the CEO of Newark Business Hub, the non-profit learning community dedicated to elevating Black and Brown creative entrepreneurs to become job creators, wealth creators, and real estate owners, I look forward to acquiring the skills to participate in the $5.6 billion of real estate development underway in the city.  My participation in this real estate development training program will advance Newark Business Hub’s mission to interrupt the gentrification paradigm by assisting 100,000 entrepreneurs to start or grow their business and accumulate wealth through ownership opportunities that leverage community revitalization efforts in rapidly appreciating urban markets like Newark.”

The “LPCCD Green Suite” program is led by Susan Austin, Director, Development & Operations.  Additional sponsors and partners include The City of Newark, Baldwin Equities, and reh+main home.  

About Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District (Non-Profit, 501c3)

The Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District, Inc. (LPCCD) is a non-profit organization actively engaged in the practice of economic development through Creative Placemaking. Its mission to plan, design and develop a comprehensive arts and cultural district in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of downtown Newark.  Once dominated by dilapidated buildings and vacant lots, the neighborhood is being transformed through LPCCD’s efforts into a “sustainable” arts and cultural district. This redevelopment includes “green” mixed-income housing, an annual music festival and historic preservation projects. LPCCD has completed more than 100 units of housing, and has provided new housing and employment opportunities for a diverse population. LPCCD is well on its way to creating a fully productive, mixed-use neighborhood.   LPCCD’s main arts & culture programs are the annual Lincoln Park Music Festival, Lincoln Park Music Speaks citywide humanities initiative, the Lincoln Park Jazzy Soul music series and the new Lincoln Park Sustainable Living Community Podcast.

For more https://bit.ly/APPLYFORLPCCDGREENSUITE for more information about the program.  

Connect with @LincolnParkCoastCulturalDistrict on Facebook and follow @LPCCD on Twitter and IG.

For LPCCD Green Suite video snippets and photos from LPCCD Green Cap Program (2008-09), one of the first in the nation, COPY & PASTE THIS LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zUpHzp1z5CzTIRrJbkMmezyccZq49Cwk?usp=sharing

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