Philadelphia 76ers forward, HBCU brother changing Los Angeles

Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris and his younger brother Terry Harris are working together to bring affordable housing to the Los Angeles area.

Tobias Harris and Terry Harris are in the process of bringing 270 affordable housing units in three locations to the Echo Park area of the city, according to a report by Andscape.

Tobias in his 13th NBA season, is currently a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. Terry Harris played college ball at three places, finishing up at North Carolina A&T. After his time at his HBCU was up, he spent 16 games in the G-League with the Delaware Blue Coats. He took that money and started his real estate journey.

“I put 3% down and saved about $15,000, opened up a line of credit for 10,000 and just fixed up the whole house,” Harris said. “A year later, I sold that house on the market for $320,000. So, I quadrupled my G League salary with just that one sale. For me, it was like, ‘Man, I’m one foot in, one foot out in real estate. What happens when I go all in on this?’ And I’ve always learned in basketball, if I’m going to go in on something, you got to give it your all.

“And when that time was coming, I was really allocating time to both avenues. I saw that real estate also was giving me an opportunity to be a driver in my own career path. With basketball, we are a part of somebody else’s organization. I wouldn’t say it was a no-brainer, but it was a reason why I made that transition seamlessly to be in control of my destiny and what this business can go into.”

The goal for the Harris brothers is to have 1,000 units in development in neighborhoods across the city by the end of the year. That’s something that would not have been possible before LA Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive order to fast-track approval for affordable housing projects.

“This is what Los Angeles kind of needs the most,” Terry Harris said. “And under new politics under Karen Bass, she’s directed a new law that’s been streamlined for affordable housing and a way for developers to make these projects happen and not go through the difficulties that developers once had to go through in California. A year ago, it used to take about two to three years for this project to get off the floor. So now, we’re all looking for all these projects in about a six- to eight-month time frame for us to be in pre-development and to get this project built.”

Terry Harris is on the ground in Los Angeles while his brother is in the playoffs with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“There’s lots of amenities in Echo Park restaurants, access to transit, wellness facilities, you name it,” Terry Harris said. “And I see it in the past. A lot of times people place affordable housing in areas that are not high on resources areas considered like South LA, where you got a liquor store across the street. Our mission is placing affordable housing in the areas that are good areas where kids who are not as privileged as everybody else can live in good areas, go to good schools and get the experience, the beauties and the good amenities that LA has to offer.”

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