THE CRE INDUSTRY HAS A PROBLEM
The commercial real estate industry, it is little secret, hasa problem with diversity. Women are still a minority inthe community and women of color are even less represented. Likewise men of color. Worse, the industryappears to recognize the problem but is only makingprogress in increments.
“As an African American commercial real estate bro-
kerage executive, I am profoundly exhausted about dis-
cussing the lack of diversity in the commercial real estate
brokerage industry,” Ernie Jarvis, founder of Jarvis
Commercial Real Estate in Washington, DC, pens at the
beginning of his newly-released white paper on CRE hir-
ing diversity. “While I am genuinely heartened by the
show of corporate support for diversity and inclusion
during these tumultuous times, the industry has a long
way to go before it authentically reflects the culturally
rich and diverse cities and communities in which we
operate.”
Stats about race in CRE are dated and often only
shed a narrow light on the scope of the problem. Jarvis
says the latest statistics he has seen show that African
American brokers make up less than 1% in the indus-
try. “In Washington, DC, the fourth largest
US market, there are some firms that have
zero African Americans. In New York City,
I’m told there are only two senior office
brokers, one at Colliers and one at
Cushman & Wakefield. Nationally, I know
of only one African American market
leader industry wide.”
Another sliver of insight comes from an
article in Urban Land, published by the
Urban Land Institute. According to The
Diverse Asset Management Project Firm
Assessment, which was written by Bella
Research Group and the Knight
Foundation, researchers determined that
only 0.7% of the 889 real estate investment
management firms in their dataset were
women-owned, and a mere 2% were minor-
ity-owned.
Other data show that women and minorities face an unusual struggle to access thecapital needed to grow their businesses inall industries, particularly real estate. Forexample, African Americans receive only2% of all SBA loan products.
Then there is a 2019 study by HarvardBusiness School and Bella Research, whichidentified only 17 women-owned and 21
minority-owned real estate investment firmsamong the total universe of 967 firms listedin the Prequin database, less than 5% of the industry.The percentage of real estate assets under managementis even lower, with women and minorities representingabout 0.8% and 1.2% respectively, of the industry totals.
The reasons for this lag are manifold and oftentimesdepend on an individual’s viewpoint. For YvonneStafford, head of Stafford Realty Group in New York Citywho started out in the 1970s as a tenant rep in Harlem,outright discrimination was commonplace. And whileprogress has been made, it hasn’t entirely gone away, sherelates. “Today most Blacks are in residential real estateand there are plenty of Blacks in CRE as well. But it nevergets easy,” she says, noting that two years ago a top-tiernationwide CRE brokerage tried to cut her out of a commission. Was it because she was Black? Stafford says she’snot sure and it hardly matters anyway at this point in herstoried career: “Commercial real estate is cutthroat. Asnice and smiley as everyone is, they will cut your hand offat the wrist given a chance. Being Black is just part ofthat. You always have to be on guard.”
Stereotypes can be difficult to overcome even amongglobal, cosmopolitan audiences, where the image of asubmissive Asian female is alive and well, says Carmela
