What’s happening?
As Black families in Baltimore continue to face homeownership obstacles, Kioba Business Ventures—a Black-owned real estate development company—provides renovated, affordable housing options for low- to middle-income buyers looking to purchase their first home, Megan Sayles reports for AFRO News. The team at Kioba recently completed a project in District 9 and is now working on three others in the Druid Hill neighborhood.
What motivated the founders to start this initiative?
Kioba—an acronym for “Keep it 100 Black Men Association”—started in 2018, following a startling trend in Baltimore homeownership, particularly among Black residents. Data from the Abell Foundations shows that from 2007 to 2017, the city’s homeownership rate decreased from 51% to 47%, while the rate among Black residents dropped to 42%.
The Kioba team, consisting of 30 Black men with expertise in contracting, development, entrepreneurship, law, medicine, teaching, and activism, originally self-funded their venture with the goal of reducing violence in neighborhoods through increasing rates of homeownership.
“The vision is to leverage real estate as an asset to empower Black men to create generational wealth,” said Kevin Daniels, a member of Kioba’s logistics committee.
Anything else I should know?
Kioba also partners with local affordable housing organization Smalltimore Homes to offer instruction in financial literacy and construction to Baltimore residents. The company hopes to expand to other cities both nationally and internationally, according to Renny Bass, a member of Kioba’s financing committee.
You can read more here.
