Ali Ata Explains How Real Estate Can Help a Neighborhood Become Better

According to Ali Ata, real estate projects can complicate the development of a neighborhood. Depending on the nature of the development, some projects may even detract from the neighborhood's character and the residents' quality of life by raising housing prices and the cost of living in the area.

This is why real estate firms need to pay attention to the needs of the communities before they even break ground: to ensure they're aiding in urban revitalization and not driving people out. In fact, real estate can actually help develop areas responsibly, notes Ali Ata.

Just look at what Yale is doing, for instance. The university owns many properties in the neighboring areas, including homes and commercial spaces. The renowned American institution can make sure that it can offer small businesses reasonable rent, and they can also intervene as representatives of their tenants.

That's an excellent example of how real estate management by an anchor institution like Yale University can preserve the character and culture of their neighborhoods and communities.

Another way real estate can aid in urban revitalization, Ali Ata mentions, is by preserving important buildings and using them for another purpose instead of letting them go to waste or be torn down.

Take the case of Sinai Health Systems. The medical institution and university took a piece of commercial land—in this instance, the abandoned Hollenback Sausage Factory—and turned the 12,000-square-foot building into a family center, a human services center, and a childcare center, with some space left for low-income housing.

Through these projects, the real estate industry can work for the people already living in the area they're working on instead of unleashing an unintended domino effect that impoverishes others by making rent or quality of living more expensive, Ali Ata adds.

Ali Ata has written a series of articles on real estate. Follow this page for updates.