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NBA All-Stars among 150 Latinos and Blacks invest $1 billion in Boston project

By Yashasvini on Jun 02, 2021 | 05:32 AM IST

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Four National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Stars are investing in a billion-dollar Harvard Real Estate Development Project, along with 150 Black and Latino professionals.

Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks, Andre Iguodala of the Miami Heat, and Andre Drummond of the Los Angeles Lakers, are part of an investment group that includes Black and Latino lawyers tech workers, doctors and professional. This group is investing $30 million into the Boston development.

Developer Tishman Speyer agreed to commit 5% of the development to Black and Latino people at the behest of Harvard. Tishman Speyer will lease 900,000 square feet of land from Harvard University’s Allston Land Company for 95 years for the project, which is currently seeking city and state approval.

The new development will feature lab space, offices, retail, apartments, and a hotel, mentioned the report. Private entities very rarely set race-based quotas for commercial real estate investment.

Penny Pritzker, the former U.S. Commerce Secretary and a member of the board of the Harvard Allston Land Company were quoted by WSJ. She said that a wide disparity existed between communities of color and white communities when it came to wealth creation due to lack of access to good deals. Harvard wanted to ensure that a diverse set of people benefit from the development, she added, stated the report.

The Black and Latino investors are accredited with an annual income of more than $200,000 or a net worth of more than $1 million, excluding their primary residence. 

Like Lowry, Holiday, Iguodala, and Drummond, former NBA players Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Luol Deng have invested in large real-estate projects, stated WSJ. 

Picture Credits: Boston Business Journal

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