Our Vision

The Real Estate Lab is the vision of Yusuf Dahl and J.B. Reilly, Cofounder and President of City Center Investment Corp. Through a chance conversation at a local networking event, both discovered they shared the same vision of a new form of community development based on aligning the economic self-interest of residents with positive neighborhood outcomes. 

Organized around three operating principles, the Real Estate Lab is a radical public/private approach to social transformation.

Principle 1 – Participants can leverage their competitive advantages/strengths to build wealth and improve their community

Principle 2 – By building diverse public/private partnerships and making strategic capital investments, we can lower barriers of entry and success in real estate investing for program participants

Principle 3 – We acknowledge that systemic discrimination has prevented equal participation in the world’s greatest wealth creator: real estate. A collaborative effort by industry/community organizations rooted in giving folks a hand up is a long overdue investment, not charity