Cincinnati Business Courier
February 4, 2005 edition

Commercial Real Estate Industries Need to Boost
Number of Minority Professionals

By:
David Neyer
President and CEO
Al. Neyer, Inc.

Do you know any African American real estate developers, brokers or architects?  Chances are, you don't, because there are so few among the ranks of Greater Cincinnati industry professionals.  This region boasts more than 100 architectural firms, yet just five are federally defined as minority owned. And, the number of individual practitioners is minute - the Directory of African American Architects lists seven licensed professionals in Greater Cincinnati. Nationally, just 1 percent of the 120,000 registered architects is African American.

The same demographic shortfall exists in development. The number of minority professionals is clearly not representative of the minority population in general, either locally or nationally. This is unfortunate, because if the commercial real estate industry is expecting diverse people to live, work, shop and play in the spaces we create, our ability to meet market expectations is dependent on working with people who have different perspectives.

Clearly, Greater Cincinnati's commercial real estate industry needs to boost the number of minority professionals among our ranks. Part of the problem, however, is a general lack of awareness among many local firms that a disparity exists. Also, minorities usually have limited or no exposure to the necessary education and resulting job opportunities in commercial real estate; as well as role models in their families and neighborhoods to know what opportunities are available and how to get there.

We must do better. As an industry, we need identify ways to introduce minorities to the profession at an early age. David Kirk, for example, regularly speaks to elementary and high school students about the architectural field.  Kirk is president of DNK Architects, and the National Organization of Minority Architects' (NOMA) local chapter.  In 2003, he conducted a seven-week program at Windsor Elementary for 27 eighth graders that included field trips to UC's school of architecture and his firm.

Bolstering the number of local minority professionals also requires increasing minority enrollment in university-level real estate and architectural programs.  University of Cincinnati's Dr. Norm Miller, a real estate professor and director of its Real Estate Center, and Michaele Pride-Wells, associate professor and director of UC's School of Architecture & Interior Design, are striving to improve their minority enrollment figures (which currently stand at about 3 and 5 percent in their respective programs) by introducing students to the discipline at the high-school level.

Pride-Wells serves on a committee with representatives from Cincinnati Public Schools and the Cincinnati chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and NOMA to tap into the high school market. The group has four initiatives under way, including AIA's ABC program, Architecture By Children; a planned UC architecture summer camp for 14-17 year olds; targeted recruiting of minority college students, particularly from this region; and recruiting of minority professionals from other areas to take positions in Greater Cincinnati architectural firms.

Supporting educational initiatives such as these is one way that members of the Greater Cincinnati commercial real estate industry can play an active role in minority recruitment. Another is to look at national programs that recruit and train minorities for professional careers in commercial real estate to see if they might work here. One example is the Real Estate Associate Program (REAP), which currently has chapters in Washington D.C. and Atlanta. Through REAP's education, networking and professional training, over 30 graduates have earned permanent positions with leading industry firms. Additionally, UC's Miller is working with the CCIM Institute, a national trade group serving commercial brokers, to address the issue. CCIM provides the extra training that minorities may need to transition from residential real estate to the more technically complex commercial arena. There certainly are other industry groups concerned and studying this issue - it ought to be a coordinated effort to maximize results.

Finally, Greater Cincinnati commercial real estate companies should make a conscious effort to provide more employment and project opportunities for minority professionals. Al. Neyer recently joined the Greater Cincinnati African-American Chamber of Commerce to better address this issue, and seeks affiliations with minority-owned firms, particularly on urban development projects. We've worked with DNK Architects on several downtown projects - including the Gateway Project at Vine and Central Parkway - and value their input on how we can make a diverse work force a lasting reality at our firm.

Increasing the number of minority professionals in local commercial real estate is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. A stronger, more diverse professional community makes for better opportunities and better projects. It brings everyone up together.