Tuesday, May 24, 2005

By Elwin Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Before Kilolo Luckett attends professional meetings in her field, she has to "gear myself up to smile."


Tony Tye, Post-Gazette
Kilolo Luckett sells real estate at Cool Space Locator.
Click photo for larger image.

Related coverage
Blacks not as scarce elsewhere in real estate

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Once there, people rarely introduce themselves, so she takes the initiative, introducing herself to them. Sometimes people seem uncertain about how to respond to her, so she uses humor to try to help them feel more at ease.

And sometimes, after returning home, she cries.

"It's extremely difficult to walk into situations time after time and be met with very cold interaction," she said.

For Luckett, 32, riding this emotional roller coaster is an unintended consequence of being a licensed real estate agent specializing in commercial property -- and being black. She works at Cool Space Locator, a Lawrenceville brokerage devoted to helping companies find urban office space.

By all accounts, Luckett is Pittsburgh's only African-American commercial real estate agent -- and an example of a national anomaly: After decades of affirmative action, the growth of the black middle class and the penetration of African-American executives into the highest ranks of corporate America, the world of commercial real estate remains, as one broker put it, "a white male bastion."

Numbers are hard to come by. The National Association of Realtors, with 1.2 million members, published a member profile in 2001 that showed its membership was 92 percent white, 5 percent Latino, Hispanic or Spanish, 2 percent black, 2 percent Asian and 1 percent American Indian.

The organization does not have a breakdown between commercial and residential practitioners. But the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute, a Realtors association affiliate group for commercial agents and brokers, has estimated that less than 1 percent of all commercial brokers are ethnic minorities.

The absence of blacks from the region's commercial real estate brokerages is all the more striking when compared with residential real estate, where blacks have been active locally since at the least the 1930s, when James Ramsey conducted his brokerage from a phone in his Brushton barber shop.

Back then, there were eight or 10 black brokers, said Robert R. Lavelle, who joined Ramsey's sales staff in 1949 and formed his own firm, Lavelle Real Estate Inc., in 1951.


Bill Wade, Post-Gazette
Michael Polite is president of Ralph A. Falbo Inc., a Downtown-based development firm.
Click photo for larger image.

"There was a pretty lively real estate market for blacks, but the problem was they were trading in the broken-down houses that blacks could get," he said. "The commercial market was a white market."

Little has changed in that regard.

"It's unbelievable how underrepresented minorities are" in the industry today, said Peter Sukernek, vice president and general manager at Howard Hanna Commercial Real Estate Services. He described the situation as "embarrassing."

It also is a situation that has been decades in the making and defies easy solution. At its core, local brokers say, is that the commercial real estate is a relationship-driven business that for much of its existence was represented by family firms, none of which was black.

"Up until very recently, (commercial real estate) tended to be dominated by families," said David W. Auel, naming several -- Arnheim, Neely, Oliver, Gold.

"Since they were family-run firms, not only did family [members] come into the firm, but also friends of sons and daughters, which is how family-run firms tend to hire."

Auel, owner of Griffon Realty Inc., Downtown, is a prime example of the sort of closed networking circle.

When he came out of college, he had never heard of a commercial real estate broker. But one day in 1985, when he was coaching a swim team, the father of two team members asked him if he was interested in commercial real estate.

It turned out that the questioner was chief financial officer for Oliver Realty Co., the family-owned precursor to Oliver Development Co., one of the leading commercial firms in the city. With his encouragement, Auel joined the firm and has been in the business ever since.

Because blacks and other people of color rarely have even casual relationships with someone in the business, most remain as unaware of the field as Auel was. That translates into a lack of candidates attempting to try their hands in the business.

During his 10 years as a district manager for Grubb & Ellis during the 1990s, only two black applicants for sales and marketing positions came his way, said Thomas B. McChesney, now senior vice president for the Downtown-based firm. "The applicant pool for diversity is few and far between in Pittsburgh," he said.

The dominance of family-owned firms did start to fade in the late 1980s as family firms began to merge with national and multinational firms. The change has led to a push to try and address the lack of blacks in the business.

For example, Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co., which has regional offices in Cranberry, has set diversity goals for 2005 that include "a formal mentoring program" and "targeted recruiting efforts." Other national firms have adopted similar efforts.

So far, however, the national objectives appear to be failing at the local level.

It doesn't help, McChesney said, that soft local market conditions have dampened hiring.

His firm hired three to four people during the 10 years he was district manager, and not much has changed since the '90s. "You get your staff built up, and because the market isn't growing, you don't add new people," he said. "That's a great barrier" to minorities.

McChesney and Jack Norris, president of CB Richard Ellis Pittsburgh, suggested that another reason for the lack of minorities seeking careers in commercial real estate sales is the pay structure, which is typically 100 percent commission. That means newcomers may have to wait a while before receiving their first paycheck.

Because the brokerage side of the business is commissioned while the property management and service side is salaried, "It's easier in our business for people to break into it on the property management and the professional support services staff side," Norris said.

While declining to provide specifics, Norris said CB Richard Ellis has "a number of black people with professional responsibilities" in the property management-services side. He expects several eventually will end up in the brokerage-sales side.

Luckett, of Cool Space Locator, has been spared from making the choice between sales and property management. She is salaried, and the nonprofit firm negotiates commissions with each client individually.

The pay structure allows her to operate differently from other commercial real estate agents. Indeed, if not for Cool Space, Luckett, with a background in arts management, might not have entered what she calls "a cutthroat profession."

But now that she is in the field, she is determined both to act -- and to be treated -- as a professional.

Which means that while being snubbed socially might evoke occasional tears in private, being slighted professionally might evoke a confrontation -- as when the listing agent on a property spoke to her client as if she weren't there. That agent got an angry phone call in which Luckett pledged never to work with him again.

But mostly, Luckett said, she relies on humor to get her through the day. She recalls, for example, arriving at an industry function and realizing that people were celebrating St. Patrick's Day by wearing green.

Not wearing green, she nevertheless claimed the holiday by telling a colleague, "I'm what you call Black Irish."


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Just read the article,kinda disappointing because I am an African American female hoping to get into commerical within the next year or so...ANY FEEDBACK

Well first off I am a white male,secondly this article is 2 years old.

There are stereotypes that we all have to overcome regardless of race.

There are people who might tell you to go to hell and then there are people who do business with you.If you can't handle rejection regardless of the reason you need to change careers,this is a tough business.

For commercial real estate you could find and alternate example in the number of white successful rappers compared to the black ones and how white people that want to be rappers are discrimiated against,ridiculed,and fight a long uphill battle,this still does not stop the people that want it bad enough to succeed.

I just get tired of people playing the race card.When I look at someone I see a person not a sex or a type of race.The bottom line is are they professional and can they get the job done.

You will run into racist people everyday,I run into blacks that believe because I am white I owe them something,I don't owe them anything just like they do not owe me anything.

Yes commercial is looked at as a man's business moreso than a women's so being black and a woman certainly does not help things.

Look ay oprah she was dirt poor started from nothing,and certainly faced more adversity than there is today and she is wildy successful.

People of any race can cry an make excuses about why they can or cannot do something,in the end there mindset and how the REACT to adverse situations will make them either fail or succeed.Some people are sexist,some ar racist and they will never change and you have to accept that and move on.

Those numbers in that article are way off to me.I know plenty of minorities that own businesses and many,many real estate agents of varying races.

I would not focus on being a black,female commercial agent but instead focus on being the best commercial real estate agent you can be.You will eventually command respect and be accepted the ones that are racist you cannot change them.Look at it as paving the way for future generations to come.

good luck

First off, I have mad respect for you POWERMOVEBELVY for following your dream against all odds.

super realtor is naive but well-meaning. Not all of us are going to grow up to be Oprah or Bill Gates, no matter what. It's incredibly difficult to rise above circumstances and societal pressure. We do owe the blacks something. We owe it to them to educate ourselves about the racist enforcement of our laws where blacks are more likely to get arrested, more likely to get the death penalty and the mandatory sentencing for crack is higher than the sentencing for cocaine. We owe it to them to learn about the War on People of Color and we owe it to them to work to make our laws and our opportunities fair to everyone.

It's hard enough being a woman, much less a black woman who's entire cultural group has been persecuted from the day they stepped foot on American soil. The persecution still continues to this day but it's more subtle. (Oh, and heaven help you if you're a fat, black woman - now you have 3 strikes against you.)

The days of assinating black leaders is over (for now, until you get another Martin Luther threatening white man's privilege.) But they're still bringing in crack and arresting the small-time dealers and users while ignoring the kingpins who fly it in to our country. There's just as much cocaine use out in the gated communities as there is in the ghetto, but they target people of color, break up their families, arrest the parents, seize all their assets and put Dad to work in a private prison industry earning 40c an hour and a $40K/year contract to house him goes to their buddies who own the private prisons. And they say slavery is over. Not.

What's a bummer is that sometimes people of color mistake my actions as racist when they're nothing of the kind. I hope that you won't do this, but I understand why it's a common conclusion.

For example, one day a neighbor was blasting her hip hop music. I asked her to turn it down and she took attitude with me, thinking it was a color thing, not a volume thing. Luckily, my other neighbor was outside for a smoke and she asked him if I ever asked him to turn down his music (believing that I hadn't because he's white.) He said yes (cuz I'm a "shut up and stay off mah lawn" sorta cranky woman like that sometimes.) I was happy that it was proven that I'm cranky and not a racist. But for her, I know that she confuses people's motivations and finds racism where none exists. I'd be her best friend where it not for her behavior (she has screaming Jerry Springer fights with her hsb.) But she likely thinks I'm racist. I feel sorry for her. But who could blame her?

I could list example after example of times where things were misconstrued.

Like your article mentioned, a sense of humor is necessary. I'll add that an open-mind is also important. Lots of people grew up without the gov't sanctioned overt rascism of early times. Lots and lots of people grew up since then with Rainbow World and Big Blue Marble mentality. Thank God. Lots of people don't know there's still a War on People of Color, they just think y'all are more prone to crime when blacks are really more prone to being busted for crime and they have less opportunities to earn an income other than dealing.
Of course, White Collar crime seems to be ok and if it's not, at least their federal prisons are cush. Not like the rape rooms we have for the rest of the general population. Something wrong with that - seems the people who embezzle, steal pensions and ruin lives should go to the rape rooms and the addicted should play tennis, golf and plant flowers.

Racism does exist, but not on the extreme "get your drinking water over there" level that it was before. It exists, sadly, even in your community where young black kids are belittled for getting good grades - they're told that they're "acting white." Or perhaps their skin isn't dark enough, or too dark. Life's hard enough without your own brothers bringing you down and resenting you for your success.

Well, anyways, I've rambled enough. Mostly I want you to know that I wish you luck and am rooting for you.

Peace.

Power,

You are limited only as much as YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE... Don't ALLOW the miasma of a perceived "glass ceiling" be a deterrent to you...

Work hard and go for what you want...

Good Luck!

Are there a lot of female commercial brokers?

I know a lot of black commercial real estate agents in various parts of Texas. If we aren't selling commercial it's because we don't want to own that type of business. People said there was a glass ceiling in commercial real estate with women and minorities until strong people came along who wouldn't let those excuses stand in their way.

why does this even become an issue? If blacks are not in commercial real estate it is because they have not chosen to follow that path. I think that we waste so much time on looking into these issues of who is who and why don't these people hold this title, it is ridiculous.... we all can choose to go out and try to become what we want if some people shy away from doing so should we purposely give them jobs in such systems based on race and color, NO work at it and it will happen.

Your race or sex has nothing to do with your success in commercial real estate. If you fail and blame it on your race or sex then you are simply looking for an excuse to justify your failure. Place the blame where it belongs on you because you lacked the skills to do the job.
Sucess in commercial real estate is based on your area and market knowledge, investment property knowledge, sales skills and the ability to prospect and network. I work with many successful commercial agents of various races, both men and women!

Sharpen your knowledge & skills instead of looking for an outside source to blame should you fail.

There are no black women commercial brokers around here. Here In The south,it seems like black women face more challenges in the real estate field . Overcomming the challenges is possible. so far it has not happened around here. That article sounds like she was in my town.

(Mmmmm...do I chime in here? Racism is a sensitive topic for a lot of people and a lot of people misconstrue what is said or written....)

I don't think anyone is owed anything no matter what race they are. If a Black or Hispanic or any other race is going to do anything they have to work for it. Playing the race card in real estate or any other aspect in life doesn't cut it (and definitely won't make you money for the most part). You have to prove yourself before you are really given a chance or at the very least talk the talk. If you are a convincing speaker you can get just about anything done.

I'm Hispanic and proud of my heritage and family, and I don't use the race card for anything negative, I use it to my advantage. I've learned the prouder you are of yourself, the better you carry yourself and handle everything in life. Be proud of yourself no matter what your race, color, creed, religion, etc...Don't whine about what you don't have, think about what you are about to have, by thinking positively.

Of course there is racism everywhere, but the funny thing is you can change a lot of racists perceived thoughts of a particular race by showing them you are an intelligent person and can do things as well or better than others (remember when women in general were in this predicament? Now look at it as a race thing since racism is still here but hidden). The thing is you have to put the effort in and impress them (it's not hard, most racist people are uneducated). The smarter or better educated the person is the less racist they are is how I feel (of course there are exceptions to every rule). Racism of course comes in all shapes and forms, most people that are racist are only slightly racist and will have friends or acquaintances of other races, which technically I'd say they aren't racist (just have different opinions), but that's a topic for a different kind of forum.

Anyway back on topic, the article didn't only mention blacks, or black women, it mentioned minorities in general, if they don't want to get into commercial real estate, you can't force them. There are black and hispanic brokers around (matter of fact my brother in law who is also hispanic is a broker) and they chose the type of business they preferred. Just because they aren't commercial brokers doesn't mean they don't sell commercial real estate. Any broker or real estate agent can and will sell commercial real estate, it's just the commercial brokers only sell commercial properties (for the most part).

There is racism in the world and not everyone is racist (like some people think) the key is to do your job as a real estate agent and WOW!!! them. Impress them with your skills. I will sell a house to the Klan leader and impress him with the knowledge I have. Don't be the stereotype of your particular race no matter what race you are, do everything to impress no matter what race. I've sold houses to all races and everyone respects me when I talk, from poor to rich. Respect yourself and others will respect you.



And there's the curveball thrown in so you can see it's not a racism thing. A broker will hire just about anyone, and if one won't (because some brokers are selective, although most of the time it's not a race thing), there definitely is another one close by that will. Looking at a 2005 census here's the breakdown by race (in the US) mentioned above White 80.2%, Hispanic or Latino 14.4%, Black 12.8%, Asian 4.3%, Native American and Alaskan Native 1%. What does this tell you? More whites get licensed than anyone else because of course that's the predominant race. Look at the percentage of Asians and American Indians, in those census numbers it's higher up there than the other races in signing up (even than whites). That tells us that blacks and hispanics are less likely to become licensed for real estate in the first place and of course the less people there are signing up the less people succeeding, equals the less people becoming brokers which also equals even less people of any race becoming commercial brokers because the vast majority of brokers become residential (and some commercial when the opportunity hits) brokers.

And the funny thing is I've had a racist friend for the last 6 years (since I moved to New Jersey) and I've been teaching him tolerance and that not everyone of any particular race is bad. He's come along so well in the years I've known him, he has a black roommate now and is becoming kinder and more acceptable to new things to him. When I met this guy the only reason why we hit it off is because we were both the punchline after punchline guy and we were similar in a lot of ways. Racism is learned and you can teach people out of it.

I was not implying racism. I agree with many of the posts on this particular article, however the South is STILL very much different than New York, California and many other places where there is more diversity. Everyone can overcome diversity and to me diveristy is a good thing. deu12000 your post was nice. I don't think that you would be able to write what you wrote and experience your experiences the same way if you were in my neck of the woods. I am sure that you would be successful wherever you go but honestly, Everyone is discriminated against somewere, sometime for some silly reason. So I guess that we all are right based on our OWN personal experiences. It will all work out for everyone eventually.

I'm a 30 year old black male. Pretty new to the industry. I have a pretty outgoing personality that helps me interact with people. I used to be the total opposite. I think that over the years I realized that if you can "hit it off" with someone then that makes me happy because I was ultimately a people person. But as a youngster I was turned off because of racism and the like, it made me really shy. Even today I still think, well, I wouldnt mind trying that restaraunt but I dont know... I'm overcoming it slowly but surely. But until you've felt those prying eyes, judging you, whispering, etc., its just hard to totally blow off the effects of racism. I'm in South Carolina and It still abounds. Getting better, but getting is still getting and there are lots of room for improvement. I do know that I wont let a race issue control my earning power or success. Its not really that bad, I dont know about other places but not here at least. However, It can affect people, and does.

I don't know here? Here we are back here again.
We all are discriminated against, just some more than others....Is it racism or is memo(rex)ry of days of old?
Life is just plain old hard. Just like "super realtor" stated we all have to overcome. Which coined the phrase....."We shall over come"
I wonder who started that phrase?

Then I became troubled with his statement regarding the part about "playing the race card"
Don't you realize that those that use the race card, get tire of using the race card???
An article being 2yrs old, is sufficient enough for "Powermovebelvy" purposes.
I think possibly this career area has change a smigeon. Not as it should be though.

But I know a lot of women in California Commercial real estate. Met a 70yr old woman yesterday I didn't know it was "Male based"
Well surprise surprise to me.....
Explains why back in the late 80's I saw all males in Marcus and Millichap.

I also believe that further gripping about "oh poor me, I'm being discriminated against" is a waste of time.
A waste of time, unless you have a forcible move to make only!
Don't you guys know that people like "super realtor" exists and they want you to go away, so they can keep their blinders on?

deu12000 mentioned "racism is learned and can be teached out"?
Charles Turner once said "There is nothing wrong in associating with what you are familiar with. Like tends to stay with like. There is nothing wrong with this" Cultures, ways of life. Tolerence is the answer.

Then well meaning "super realtor" takes a page out "Stephen Colbert Report" (cable comedy) "When I look at someone I see a person not a sex or a type of race"...LOL..Stephen Colbert goes on to say "I only know that I am white, because everyone tells me that I am"

Equivacating White Rappers being discriminated against! There are more White people #1 and more White children buying Black Rappers music.....White Rappers, they just arent that good.

Oprah making it is one of a few in a population of 13%.
Let's use "The Donald" Commercial Guru. One of his Apprentice's was African American, wow.
This past season choices of African Americans on the Apprentice show was an embarrassment. And Donald's children kept re-itterating "Whose going to fit into our company" OPENLY.
They seem to like crazy Frank. Which didn't hurt my feelings. Compared to Corey who was black, trotting around in tight Pink swim wear he designed!

I've bought and sold real estate all over the country and in different markets. Yes, there are agents who have felt that they have something better to do, than relate to me. But unless they own the property, they are not the last word!
If that doesn' work "Next property please" their loss.
Bottom line. The property will stay on the market longer and probably get less money, as more time goes by!

The days of this form of discrimination is waning down. Reason being, the white side availability of climbing the money making ladder is growing ever more so ruthless.

I've had other agents tell me that sellers refuse to accept an offer from them, solely because of their skin color(Louisiana).
I've had the police called on me, entering properties twice (California)I turned my lemons into lemonade and passed my cards out to half the force that showed up Made 2 sells.

According to the Real Estate Dept. it may be morally wrong to approach the seller, but not illegal

Do I believe that racism is alive and well. Yes I do.
Do I believe there is racism in Commercial Real Estate, probably so. Is it a blanketed effort or subliminal blue code of silence? In some cases yes.

The question is "Why aren't more blacks selling Commercial Real Estate" Could it be that they are keeping a low profile. Maybe where you are, they don't understand the market yet. Maybe they have tried and failed (I know of one black person that tried years ago)This older black broker got out because the market was bad. But he had no trouble relating. He belong to the NAACP.

I'm at this point. You know what the game is. If you feel that your efforts are being thorted by the color of your skin. There are a thousand avenues to travel, learn them! The world is changing and getting smaller.

Racism is a walking talking breathing source. It hurts everyone. Which no one disputes.
It has come to bite some in the behind and it hurt them. Cause but no effect.
I was told by a Hispanic client "I never had to learn to speak english coming from Mexico to El Paso, because everyone there spoke spanish" Cause and effect. Because he left, it effected him, so he learned english....

So those of you that stay within your warm cozy cocoons and keep thinking "I like traditional things, I want things to stay the old way"....."I like my foot on your neck, keep quiet and stop whining and justifying and just lay there"
And them old freakin' "race cards" well we've changed the rules, they are ours now. Get over it!

My hopes rest in as the "Big Boys" get bigger, racisms seems to take on the color of green!.....(not the little big boys), there's a difference.

People need to quit using race as an excuse to fail and for handouts.

We are all dealt a deck of cards,we can make success happen or cry about why life isn't fair and create our own failures.

Success can happen for all of us just probably isn't going to happen exactly like we envisioned it.

I don't care who the agent is as long as they are competent and know what they are doing.I still have people call people the "N" word and I don't like it.Unfortuneately you come across people that you don't like.You keep it professional and move on.

We agree on one basic fact. If you are competent you will possibly have successes. Depending on your drive, determination and education.
No one should expect to jump from high school to CEO........
unless you are a legal entity like a "Rapper"
McDonald's, KFC is where my children started, while in college.

Do you know of someone personally that has used the race card as an excuse?
Or are these individuals simply items that you have seen in the news? Or are these people that you just don't agree with possibly?

How did you come to your conclusion?

How did you jump to hand-outs? Do you know of a certain part of this society that hasn't received a hand out?

Look. By your own admission you stated that you are white. You stated that you have heard people call others the "N" word???
Then what the hell is wrong with using the invisible "race card"
When you have earned something....Oh that's right "keep it professional and move on".....leave your money at the door and just move on "it's not really yours, you're just a "N".."

Don't you realize that, not everyone uses the race card?
James Brown's lawyers(white) wanted to use it and James wouldn't let them.

James Brown sung a song, singing "Don't give me nothing. Open up the door, I'll get it myself"

1. Not every minority is on the Welfare wagon.
2. Not every black uses the race card.
3. Not every black is poor. (and not by Rapping)
4. Not every minority knows what you are talking about.

And forget about people moving on. The minute you think you have moved on..........one of your friends (by your own admission)
Messes up and turns La La Land into Messapotamia.

Until Bad behavior is corrected. The "race card" remains.
And no they will not go away, just because it irritates, those not affected.