WEBVTT - Building Energy Efficiency and Affordability

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Well, for years,

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg News has been reporting on housing an equality Fannie

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<v Speaker 1>May is highlighted as well. They recently noted that how

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<v Speaker 1>over the years, the inventory of affordable US homes has

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<v Speaker 1>declined sharply as home prices have dramatically risen, and as

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<v Speaker 1>housing has become increasingly unaffordable. The shortage of safe and

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<v Speaker 1>affordable homes is affecting more and more prospective home buyers

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<v Speaker 1>every day. People keep getting squeezed out. Yeah. One company

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<v Speaker 1>trying to do what it can do to help fix

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<v Speaker 1>that is Trident Builders. We got the company's president with us,

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<v Speaker 1>Brendan McCluskey. He's the president Trident Builders, joining us on

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<v Speaker 1>zoom from Baltimore. Bloomberg Philanthropies we should notice providing support

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<v Speaker 1>for Trident's efforts. Bloomberg Philanthropies is the philanthropic arm of

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg LP and the parent company of Bloomberg Radio. Brendan,

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<v Speaker 1>it's great to have you. How are you. Yeah, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>doing great. Thanks for having me on. Okay, so you

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<v Speaker 1>create homes that are energy efficient but also affordable. How

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<v Speaker 1>do you do it in a face like Baltimore. Yeah, well,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's it's it's interesting. So right now we're actually

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<v Speaker 1>building a project for the Smithsonian Institute that is passive

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<v Speaker 1>House certified, So basically you've got highly energy efficient homes that,

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<v Speaker 1>with the addition of solar, are actually a net benefits

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<v Speaker 1>of the climate that they actually produce more energy over

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<v Speaker 1>the course of the year than um they actually consume.

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<v Speaker 1>And um our ambitions in Baltimore is to remove really

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<v Speaker 1>the the very worst of housing stock in these urban centers,

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<v Speaker 1>these vacant properties that you know, we're falling apart. They're

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<v Speaker 1>just laden with lead and asbestos and all sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>other harmful chemicals and basically just wipe that stuff out

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<v Speaker 1>and build new housing stock for the twenty one century

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<v Speaker 1>and to focus on the communities that need the most

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<v Speaker 1>bright and I love what you said about, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>focusing on how to build housing for the century. We

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<v Speaker 1>have to rethink the model that currently exists that really

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<v Speaker 1>kind of um puts home ownership out of the range

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<v Speaker 1>of so many Americans. Yeah. Absolutely, and that's what our

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<v Speaker 1>missions are Athletes. So the program that we're looking to

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<v Speaker 1>employ is something that was actually perfected over the last

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<v Speaker 1>four decades in Cleveland. It's called the Cleveland Housing Network,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're able to leverage, you know, the four percent

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<v Speaker 1>lie Tech UH tax credit basically put these people into

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<v Speaker 1>a fifteen year program where they get the peripheral supports

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<v Speaker 1>from the Bloomberg philanthropies and the living classrooms, all these

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<v Speaker 1>great philanthropic organizations that kind of round out the soft

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<v Speaker 1>skills and to help stabilize these communities and the challenges

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<v Speaker 1>that they have. And what we do is we find

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<v Speaker 1>a market driven solution, like a market solution for the

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<v Speaker 1>housing problem. Um. You know that itself is stabilized, but then,

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<v Speaker 1>like you we lean on philanthropic organizations to kind of

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<v Speaker 1>round out the balance of workforce development, food security, housing, um.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, like trauma and therapy, mental health, all all

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<v Speaker 1>the various things that are that are afflicting these challenge communities.

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<v Speaker 1>You mentioned lie tech and for those not familiar with

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<v Speaker 1>that acronym, it's the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program,

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<v Speaker 1>And so we're talking about how that subsidizes right acquisition, construction,

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<v Speaker 1>and rehabilitation of affordable renting housing, especially for I guess

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<v Speaker 1>lower income individuals. What what is the smart public private

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<v Speaker 1>partnership in terms of tackling what is really a pandemic,

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<v Speaker 1>if you will, are endemic part of our society When

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to again going back to housing not being

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<v Speaker 1>affordable for so many, Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, like

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<v Speaker 1>there's you know, there's fourteen million people living in poverty.

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<v Speaker 1>They don't have access to affordable housing. I mean that's

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<v Speaker 1>bigger than the population of forty six out of fifty states.

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<v Speaker 1>You know that there's a lot of Americans that just

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<v Speaker 1>don't have access to housing. And I think the best

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<v Speaker 1>benefit is for you know, states municipalities that have all

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<v Speaker 1>this you know, decrepit housing stock to turn it over

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<v Speaker 1>to you know, private sector developers, nimble entrepreneurs like myself, um,

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<v Speaker 1>and allow us to you know, lock into and commit

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<v Speaker 1>to low income housing for the long term. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>what we really like about our model is that the

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<v Speaker 1>idea is to graduate these people out of the cycle poverty, right. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, people aren't supposed to be in public assistance

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<v Speaker 1>and for housing forever. And I think what we're endeavoring

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<v Speaker 1>to do is to close the wealth gap within these

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<v Speaker 1>communities that you know, people are able to capture the

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<v Speaker 1>rise and equity of the property values over a fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>year period, and by doing it at large enough scale,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, um, it's not like a drop of not

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<v Speaker 1>like a rain drop on the ocean. You know, by

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<v Speaker 1>knocking out a hundred and fifty to two hundred fifty

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<v Speaker 1>of these units at a time, were transforming entire neighborhoods

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<v Speaker 1>and so that entire neighborhood will be poised for great

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<v Speaker 1>growth and stability for the next decade and a half.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, the fact of the matter is, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>these houses were built a hundred years ago and they

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<v Speaker 1>don't have any installation in them. I mean, these things

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<v Speaker 1>are not built for climate change. And you know, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>so we're more or less you know, basically we're given

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<v Speaker 1>the best of the people that are the worst off. Brendan,

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<v Speaker 1>how do you balance this type of work with the

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<v Speaker 1>other work that you do at Tried and Builders, Because

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<v Speaker 1>you guys also work on spaces like you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>Ritz Carlton for example, commercial and private residences and rous

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<v Speaker 1>Chris stake House as well. Yeah. Yeah, so like we

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<v Speaker 1>we tend to faston ourselves as like a best in

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<v Speaker 1>class service provider. So you know, we don't. We don't

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<v Speaker 1>do hotels we do with Carlson. We don't do restaurants,

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<v Speaker 1>we do Ruth Crest. Um. You know, we do some

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<v Speaker 1>work with the federal government. It's like for the the

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<v Speaker 1>likes of the Smithsonian, right. Um, we really enjoy having

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<v Speaker 1>smart sophisticated clients because frankly they get it. Um. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>like sometimes our commitment to quality and customer service con

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<v Speaker 1>suf used by the ones that don't necessarily understand the

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<v Speaker 1>difference and the value add that we're bringing. Um. This

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<v Speaker 1>does require me to wear a different hat though, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>But I still believe that the same sort of tenacity

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<v Speaker 1>and entrepreneurial spirit that we bring to bear for like

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<v Speaker 1>our you know, high end customers, I think requires the

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<v Speaker 1>same level sophistication to really think through some of these

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<v Speaker 1>like more embedded challenges. But it is it a model

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<v Speaker 1>that can can exist on its own without subsidies, without

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<v Speaker 1>outside support right now? The model shows that yeah. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And in fact, we're trying to work with Johns Hopkins

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<v Speaker 1>University and Morgan State UM, which is a great HCBU

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<v Speaker 1>here in Baltimore for them to build. Let's develop a

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<v Speaker 1>Harvard Business School like case study. So not only can

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<v Speaker 1>this be studied, they can be replicated and and basically

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<v Speaker 1>exported throughout the region. UM. Important to note we're going

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<v Speaker 1>off to the four percent, not the competitive nine percent,

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<v Speaker 1>so we don't necessarily need to have friends in the

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<v Speaker 1>state house where you can actually just go right for

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<v Speaker 1>the four percenters and it balances out. You know. It's

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's we can make good money by doing well.

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<v Speaker 1>I love it. I love it. It's certainly something we

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<v Speaker 1>talked about a lot here, and it's not always so

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<v Speaker 1>easy to do, but it sounds like you are. Um, Brendan,

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<v Speaker 1>come back and let us know how things are progressing.

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<v Speaker 1>Brendan McCluskey. He is president of Tried and Builders. Joining

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<v Speaker 1>us via zoom from Baltimore. As we mentioned, Bloomberg Philanthropies

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<v Speaker 1>is providing support for Trident efforts. Bloomberg Philanthropies, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>the philanthropic arm of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Radio. Bloomberg broadcast in Bloomberg LP