How Black real estate developers are breaking ground for underrepresented communities

How new funding opportunities are helping Blacl real estate developers.

The $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by Congress last week will fund roads, bridges, rails and other components of the country's infrastructure. The legislation is also addressing racial inequity. President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan aims to "reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments" and "redress historic inequity." Part of his plan includes awarding government contracts to minority-owned businesses, including real estate development companies that will do the work in conjunction with climate projects. Why is racial injustice being addressed in the plan? The real estate development community is almost exclusively white. That lack of diversity, Black developers who spoke with ABC News said, translates into less affordable housing in Black communities, low rates of homeownership and a scarcity of retail and other businesses within those communities. According to a 2019 report from Urban Land Institute -- a nonprofit organization for real estate and land use experts -- only 5% of its U.S. members are African American, 4.5% are Asian and 82% are white.