SHINE THE LIGHT CHAT
SMBW sat down with Bernard Harkless from Lynx Ventures to discuss how developers can impact the housing crisis.
Tell us about your role at Lynx.
I’ve been at Lynx for five years. Rick Gregory, John Gregory, and I started Lynx with a goal of focusing more on economic development and larger scale mixed-use, mixed-income projects.
How would you describe your work in affordable housing and housing equity?
Lynx has a history of developing affordable housing. Those that are in the housing world know us more as an affordable housing developer, while the general public know us for projects like The Current. We’ve worked on mixed-use and mixed-income housing from the beginning, starting with our time at Fountainhead Development with New Manchester Flats, which has 30% of AMI all the way to 120% (see infographic on page 3 for an explanation of AMI). In the next three to five years, we see ourselves developing a lot more affordable housing. There's a housing crisis and there just needs to be a production of a lot of units generally but also affordable units.
How would you define the mission of Lynx?
We're focused on big picture economic development. When people talk about housing, they don't always talk about how connected housing is to everything else. What good is building housing if we're not also investing in black and brown businesses or making investments around entrepreneurship and workforce development? If I'm just building a unit and a person doesn't have a job that allows them to reasonably pay rent, we're not solving the root problem and we're just kicking the can down the road. Lynx is focused on that larger, more holistic component; we're going to build affordable housing, but we're also going to partner with workforce development groups, nonprofits, and for-profits that are developing strategies around
finding different ways to invest in neighborhoods. This philosophy is tied to the work we're doing at Hatch Richmond. We own and operate Hatch Commercial Kitchen, which is enabling growth for small businesses in the food and beverage industry, specifically those that are women and minority owned. By creating spaces like these, people are able to start businesses, grow those businesses, hire people, and hopefully pay people wages that can put them on a path to see a steady increase in income and eventually move into that next layer of housing.
How would you define equitable housing and affordable housing?
Affordable housing is when a person is cost burdened, meaning over 30% of the money they make is being spent on rent or mortgage payments. Regarding housing equity, having a home is just so psychologically important to maintaining stability in all aspects of a person's life, and everybody should have access to that. There's also a quality component, making sure that people have a nice place to live. It doesn't need to have marble countertops, but it should be maintained, safe, and not compromise people's health or well-being.
Do you see opportunities like Hatch Richmond as fundamental to Lynx's mission?
Part of the mission of Lynx is filling those gaps that exist in our communities and creating new opportunities that are needed. If you look at just entrepreneurship in Richmond, you've got Startup Virginia, Activation Capital, and so many other biotech or tech startups, but there's nothing for food and beverage— and that's the importance of Hatch.
"Lynx is focused on that larger, more holistic component; we're going to build affordable housing, but we're also going to partner with workforce development groups, nonprofits, and for-profits that are developing strategies around finding different ways to invest in neighborhoods."
Bernard Harkless, Principal at Lynx Ventures
How did you engage the community when working on the Current?
We've been working in the Manchester neighborhood for quite some time. We attended Manchester Alliance meetings and spent time with stakeholders in the neighborhood, and we found that there's very few retail opportunities, bars, and places to hang out. We knew that Manchester lacked and needed retail, so what do we do? We developed a project that provided those things. When I presented The Current to Manchester Alliance was asked why only 20% of the units were affordable. Practically, though, if you want more of one thing, you usually get less of something else. There's a relationship between everything. We chose to provide more commercial space because that was the most urgent concern of the neighborhood at that time.
Do you see opportunities for developers to be more creative about their approach?
If you were to pose the same question to two other developers, we'd probably give you three different answers. Lynx is thinking of new ways to do things, which requires reaching out to different types of stakeholders. Developers being more willing to have those conversations is important, but it does mean the development process moves slower. Most developers are not seeking to add more complexity to the work that they're doing enough to manage between the architect, financing, construction, entitlements and general market risk.
They're hesitant to go and add another partner to their project— that's a reality for most for-profit developers.
At the end of the day, though, there's a housing crisis not just in Richmond but everywhere, and to think that nonprofits alone can build all the affordable housing units we need is unrealistic. To get those units, for-profit developers are going to have to be at the table coming up with solutions. So, how can we work together to do the things that we both do well and to achieve better outcomes?
Every developer has a completely different approach, vision, and definition of success. When it comes to developing successful housing projects, you have to understand that a project can't be all things to all people. We need to take feedback from the community and blend that with our vision and the realities of how to build and finance things. As a result, we're going to get an output that will address the community's concerns, while also aligning with needs that we feel are important to create resilient communities. Coming into the affordable housing space as a for-profit developer, there can be a lot of mistrust, but there are also a lot of needs yet to be fulfilled. As developers, we need to figure out how to have those difficult conversations with the communities we're working in about their needs. This is especially important considering these communities have historically lacked investment.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected people’s access to housing?
Over the past year, Richmond developers have seen an influx of residents coming from out of state. With remote work, COVID has allowed people to more easily relocate from other markets, and that phenomenon has really changed housing dynamics. There's so many people that know personally who live in Richmond while working remotely for firms in DC and taking the train up once a week. Even in historically affordable neighborhoods like North Side, properties are selling at an inflated price to out-of-towners who are moving in with out-of-market salaries and putting in higher offers on housing.
When engaging the community, how do you manage the NIMBY ("Not in My Backyard") mentality? That's just the reality of doing development work. There's a context and a reason as to why people can get so mad about development and I completely get it. Do people believe in your vision for the future? How can you ensure that things are going to be different this time? You're always trying to build trust. I'm a developer, but I'm also Bernard and John is also John, and we're people. Richmond is a small enough city that if you work with enough people, they will come to understand how much you care. We want to be thoughtful about the work we're doing, and at the end of the day, the reason this work is so powerful is that these buildings are here forever.
How can architects and designers help foster more equitable housing opportunities, access, and practices?
It's important to be mindful of the complexity of development, and understand that it goes beyond the capital requirements and involves so many moving pieces. If designers, architects, and service providers can come to the table with a base level of understanding of how development works, it affords us all more time and effort to spend on finding new, different solutions to this crisis. Additionally, connecting and engaging partners who are able to bring different resources to the table is essential. Partnerships with nonprofits, businesses, developers or other entities that are working to solve issues like these create more opportunities for us to look at this differently and come up with creative solutions using our collective expertise and perspectives.
Bernard Harkless LYNX Ventures, Principal
LYNX Ventures The Current
LYNX Ventures New Manchester Flats
LYNX Ventures Miller Lofts