An outsider is buying commercial property on the Northside. He wants residents to hold much of the equity

Owning equity in Hawthorn Crossings could be yours with an investment of as little as $1,000. Photo by David Pierini

By David Pierini, Editor

Lyneir Richardson was a bored bank attorney, practically asleep at his desk, when his supervisor asked him to

review a loan application from a barber wanting to open a shop in a West Chicago neighborhood.

To say something clicked understates the energy of an epiphany. He was helping a fellow African American realize his dream of owning a business and building wealth for his family.

Fast-forward 34 years to today, and the Chicago developer is inviting Northsiders to invest in their own community. Richardson’s firm, Chicago Trend, is in the process of purchasing the Hawthorn Crossings strip mall on West Broadway and wants residents to own 49 percent of the equity.

“On company merchandise, we created the hashtag, ‘we own this,’ and so our belief is that if people have a little ownership stake, they are going to patronize and protect and respect the assets in a different way,” Richardson told North News. “If someone invests $1,000, they’re going to earn maybe $3,000 or $4,000; not a promise because real estate is still a risk, but they also get to be a part of their neighborhood getting stronger.”

Hawthron Crossings, currently owned by Sherman and Associates, would be the eighth project in the Chicago Trend portfolio that invites residents and businesses in underinvested areas to own equity.

Trend started a $50 million real estate fund three years ago and includes the McKnight Foundation among its investors. McKnight is part of the GroundBreak Coalition, a $5.3 billion fund created to reduce racial disparities in property ownership and commercial investment.

Chicago Trend rolled out a website in early June to invite local investors following its signing of a purchase agreement with Sherman and Associates. Anyone can buy in with as little as $1,000, and an unnamed donor has offered to match every $1,000 donation from the 55411 zip code.

The idea to offer opportunities for local residents to invest, Richardson said, was born from an image he saw during the unrest after George Floyd’s murder in police custody.

“I saw a picture of a Black man holding a sign that said, ‘Don’t wreck my store. It’s Black-owned.’ I started listening to a newscast where people were saying we have to do something about closing the racial wealth gap,” Richardson said. “We have to have racial justice investment strategies. Later that night, it was sort of divine inspiration.”

Richardson said he sees the potential in the West Broadway business corridor, especially with light rail coming to North Minneapolis in the next few years.

Kristel Porter, president of the West Broadway Business and Area Coalition, said rare is the investor who comes to North Minneapolis and invites residents to invest in a project.

“I do appreciate the inclusiveness and asking people that live within the zip code to invest and letting them be a part of that,” Porter said. “I’ve never seen anyone do something like that in this community.”

Porter reserves some skepticism because Chicago Trend never reached out to the business association that works so closely with the corridor. She found out from an email from a neighborhood group.

Richardson said he is still getting to know the Northside and will be visiting Minneapolis to meet with anyone interested in the project.

On previous trips, he met with the Rev. Alfred-Babington Johnson, the CEO of the non-profit StairStep Initiative Companies, Hennepin County Commissioner Irene Fernando and Brett Buckner of OneMN.

Babington-Johnson convened a group of 40 community elders and pastors to hear Richardson speak about investing in Hawthorn Crossings.

Buckner’s non-profit is under contract by the Blue Line project to bring the community together to share ideas on how to grow North Minneapolis around the eventual Blue Line extension that will link downtown Minneapolis to North Minneapolis and the Northwest suburbs.

Buckner supports the Blue Line extension project; Porter and the WBC support light rail but disagree with the route due to its impact on West Broadway businesses between James and Penn avenues.

“I think we can build some momentum that allows the community to say, ‘ok, we might have a chance here,’ but we’re really excited about what Lyneir is doing,” Buckner said. “We’re excited because it shows people that we’re worth something. Our intent is to get him out there as much as possible so as many people as possible can hear about it.”