On Tuesday I had the opportunity to share some of my knowledge of real estate development with five young people who are spending their summer working on the youth engagement portion of the San Pablo Avenue Corridor Plan. My friend from graduate school, Alissa Kronovet, together with two faculty from Kennedy High School in Richmond, CA are helping these young people to make a positive impact in their community.
After a boring hour of somewhat interactive lecture about green building the real fun started when we left as a group to visit the 12th and MacDonald project site in downtown Richmond. Kinshasa Curl from the Redevelopment Agency met us there and described the goals of the project and what her role is, as a project manager with the City of Richmond, on the project. She was very enthusiastic, open to our ideas for retail on the site, and offering of herself as a mentor. She even offered to take the kids on a hard hat tour of the new Richmond Civic Center.
After our visit to the 12th and MacDonald project site the group took BART to 12th Street where we ate lunch, and walked by two AF Evans developments that are somewhat similar to what 12th and MacDonald will look like when it is complete. We then stopped by the AF Evans corporate office and spent 30 minutes talking with Muhammad Nadhiri who manages 12th and MacDonald at AF Evans . The group was engaged and interested in Muhammad's personal history, thoughts on how to make San Pablo Avenue more pedestrian friendly, and challenges of developing and building green.
It was a great day; a great escape from the office.
Photo from left to right: Marlin, Tiara, Kinshasa, Justin, Julio, Norman, Eduardo
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