To Help Black Developers, Programs Start With Access to Capital “Equity capital is not readily available,” said Craig Livingston, a managing partner at Exact Capital and the chairman of the New York Real Estate Chamber. He and his colleagues may have incredible track records, he said, “but when competing with second- or third-generation developers, we don’t have the same financial footing or access to risk capital.” “There’s a long history in real estate of this; it’s been systematic and pronounced for decades, centuries,” said Christopher J. Mayer, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School. “People have talked about it, observed that fact, but the really strong commitment to do something is much more recent.” |