By Michael Gotlieb
Many promises were made to rebuild South-Central Los Angeles as the embers of dozens of once-vibrant, small commercial enterprises still smoldered following the 1992 riots.
A decade later many of those promises remain unfulfilled as investment and redevelopment has lagged due to the difficulties of inner-city development. However, at least one promise has been kept.
In the fall of 1992, a group of USC professors and civic leaders got together and created the Minority Program in Real Estate to help give minorities the tools and connections they need to rebuild their own communities by fostering new development.
A decade later the program has changed its name - it is now called the Summer Program in Real Estate in deference to the program's inclusiveness and the fact that majority of Angelenos are now Latino and African-American - but its mission remains the same. More than 225 professionals from the private sector, community-based organizations, nonprofit and public agencies have graduated from the intensive annual two-week program to become leaders
and entrepreneurs in urban renewal in underserved communities.
This summer's program culminated on June 28 with a graduation ceremony for 32 professional students. The students spent two weeks living at the university's Exposition Park campus, which emerged virtually unscathed in 1992 despite being in the middle of the civil unrest. Classes ranged from macro discussions of capital markets and the economy to hands-on case studies, site analysis and discussions of property types.
A key component of the program that evolved unexpectedly over the past decade is networking. Students developed strong connections not only with the established professionals and alumni of the Lusk Center for Real Estate but also among the students themselves, according to David Dale-Johnson, co-director and one of the program founders.
"We give them some tools in understanding the development process, we hook them into our network, and the group themselves becomes their own network," said Dale-Johnson, an associate professor in the Marshall School of Business associated with the Lusk Center. "We didn't really see that as being a key piece of the program initially."
Interest in the program appears to be growing, although Dale-Johnson said that might be due to the economy. Nonetheless, this year's class was the largest to date. Based on the number of well-qualified applicants they received for the past session, university officials are considering creating a three-weekend winter program as well.
The program's growth also may coincide with what appears to be increasing interest in inner-city development, as opportunities become scarcer in traditional development areas.
The success of the Chesterfield Square retail center is helping to draw development interests to South-Central Los Angeles.
"I think there has been some success," Dale-Johnson said. "These are generally tough markets even though there are lots of consumers in these markets. There is a tremendous amount of history and perception to overcome."
Summer program graduates are leading the charge in proving the viability of inner-city development.
For example, Jide Alade, a 1997 graduate of the program who went on to earn a master's in real estate development, runs joint venture development deals for WF Construction of San Dimas. Alade's latest project is the $750,000 redevelopment of a strip mall at Crenshaw and 43rd Street into a
3,850-square-foot building housing Blockbuster Video, the first national chain store to open in that area in more than a decade. Alade also directed a $3 million, 17,000-square-foot retail development project at LaBrea Avenue
and Rodeo Road in Baldwin Hills.
Carlos Mesa, a graduate of the inaugural 1993 class and president of the Santa Fe Group, recently sold a $3.5 million, 16-unit housing development in Panorama City, which revitalized an abandoned property and repositioned it
for middle-income residents. The new housing units were all pre-sold and fully occupied within a week after opening.
Mesa said the program immersed him in real estate 24 hours a day whether he was in class or sitting down to lunch with the chairman of Wells Fargo.
"It gives a crash course in all the requirements to be an entrepreneur in the real estate industry," he said.
Equally valuable is the fact that the program opens up the doors to networking with the USC community, Mesa said.
"Sure enough, any time that I've had things I couldn't get to on my own, I've been able to get somebody who knows quite a bit about what I didn't know at the time," he said.
Mesa is now working on new residential projects in other locations in Southern California, determined to grow his business. But determination alone doesn't translate to instant success.
"To have an environment where you are given access to people to help you, makes a world of difference," he said.
As their commercial real estate careers diverge and grow, Dale-Johnson said many of the program's students maintain a personal investment in redeveloping inner-city communities.
"People who grew up in and live in those communities best know those communities," he said.
FYI: For more information on USC's Summer Program in Real Estate, you can call Irma Quintana at (213) 821-1039 or visit www.marshall.usc.edu/spire.