Although we aimed to be comprehensive, our list of Black- and Hispanic-owned real estate development companies is not exhaustive. As we explain in our methodology section, our list is based on a sample of companies and we intentionally limited it to those companies for which we could find public statements about the owners’ identity. We invite Black and Hispanic development companies across the country to contribute to this growing database.

The directory includes each developer’s business name, the address of the company’s headquarters or primary location, website (when available), and whether it is Black- or Hispanic-owned. The directory is interactive and enables users to search for a business by name or search for groups of businesses based on their location.

Along with the directory, we have created an interactive map that ranks states and metro or micro areas based on the numbers of Black and Hispanic developers and the numbers of Black and Hispanic developers relative to the area’s Black and Hispanic populations, respectively. The map also shows the potential impact of removing the constraints on Black and Hispanic developers—fixing the representation crisis, closing the revenue gap for medium-sized Black developers, and leveling the revenue cliffs for large Black and Hispanic developers—at the state and metro or micro area levels, including the number of new businesses that could be formed and the jobs and revenue they could generate. The map and directory are linked and the information about Black and Hispanic developers is both interactive and downloadable.

Explore the map and learn more about Black and Hispanic real estate developers!

Black and Hispanic Developers Are Highly Concentrated Geographically

Our data included Black real estate developer headquarters in 33 states and Hispanic developers in 28 states and Puerto Rico. By comparison, our sample of white developers included developer headquarters in 48 states.

According to our data, the states with the most Black developers are Texas, Georgia, and Florida. The top states for Hispanic developers are Texas, Florida, and California.

Compared to white developers, Black and Hispanic developers are also highly concentrated around a smaller number of cities. Our data included Black developers in 87 metropolitan and micropolitan areas and Hispanic developers in 57 metro and micro areas. Our sample of white developers includes 174 metro and micro areas.

FIGURE 16 – NUMBER OF BLACK DEVELOPERS

According to our data, the metro areas with the most Black developers are Washington, DC, Atlanta, and New York. In our data, the Miami metro area has more Hispanic developers than any other metro area, followed by Houston and San Antonio.

FIGURE 17 – NUMBER OF HISPANIC DEVELOPERS

We want to know more than where Black and Hispanic developers are most common. Some metros have larger Black and Hispanic populations than others. We might expect metros with more Black residents to have more Black real estate developers and those with more Hispanic residents to have more Hispanic developers. Scaling the number of developers in each group by the size of the group’s population solves this problem. Doing this shows that some metro areas with just a few Black or Hispanic developers have more of these developers in relation to their Black and Hispanic populations.

FIGURE 18 – METRO RANKING FOR BLACK DEVELOPERS

Top 5 Metros for Black Developers Per Black Resident

1. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area
2. Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area         
3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area   
4. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metro Area          
5. Tallahassee, FL Metro Area       

According to our data, Portland, OR, has the most Black developers per Black resident. Next on the list are Pittsburgh, Washington, DC, and Denver. Three out of the four top metros on this ranking are not among the four metros with the largest total number of Black developers. Only Washington, DC, is among the top four metros in both the total number of Black developers and the number of Black developers per 10,000 Black residents according to our data.

FIGURE 19 – METRO RANKING FOR HISPANIC DEVELOPERS

Top 5 Metros for Hispanic Developers Per Hispanic Resident

1. Albuquerque, NM Metro Area   
2. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metro Area          
3. El Paso, TX Metro Area 
4. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area
5. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area

The top metros for Hispanic developers per capita also differ from those with the most Hispanic developers. Albuquerque has the most Hispanic developers per Hispanic resident in our data. Next on this list are Denver, El Paso, and Austin.

Based on our population-scaled metrics for both Black and Hispanic developers, many of the top-ranked metro areas are rapidly growing ones. Some of these metros, however, have small absolute numbers of Black and Hispanic developers. Portland, for example, only has three Black developers. Future research might engage local Black and Hispanic developers to learn more about why these cities support more Black and Hispanic developers per capita.