Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris and his brother are bringing affordable housing to Los Angeles

Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris and his brother and former G League forward Terry Harris never got to play with or against each other in the NBA. But they are teaming up to bring much needed affordable housing to Los Angeles.

The Harris brothers said they are currently in development to bring 270 affordable housing units in three locations to the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The projects include a 33-unit development, 93-unit development with retail, and a 190-unit development. The goal is to have 1,000 units in development in neighborhoods across the city by the end of the year.

Terry Harris said that all of the properties are expected to be built from scratch and not refurbished old buildings.

“This is a project that my younger brother and myself are in the works on now,” Tobias Harris told Andscape. “We are always figuring out ways to give back. In Los Angeles, there is a housing shortage. A lot of this is his initiative that I am supporting. It’s still early, but we’re working on a lot of things to make it happen.”

Los Angeles is home to about 46,000 homeless people, a 10% increase from last year and 10,000 more than since the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Daily Mail. Los Angeles County also had a shortage of nearly 500,000 affordable homes in 2022, according to the LA County Annual Affordable Housing Outcomes Report. In December 2022, however, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass signed an executive order to fast-track approval for affordable housing projects.

Since the mayor’s order, Los Angeles has received plans for more than 13,770 affordable units, according to data provided by the city’s planning department. That is just slightly less than the total number of housing units developed from 2020 to 2022. Terry Harris said that he and his brother have been aided by the fast-tracking of affordable housing development.

“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.”

Echo Park is 48% Hispanic, 32% White, 12% Asian, 4% two or more races and 3% African American, according to Niche. It has a reputation of being a trendy town for multicultural business, art and music and its popular lake.

Terry Harris is excited about his properties allowing low-income residents to live in this diverse and quality neighborhood. To Terry Harris’ knowledge, there has been no pushback from locals who are concerned about low-income residents coming to their neighborhood.

“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.

“It’s not just a place of affordable housing where we can get the cheapest land. But it’s the place of affordable housing in the areas that are going to be really impactful for kids and any family who needs affordable housing.”

Tobias Harris is quite familiar with Los Angeles as he played for the LA Clippers from 2018-19. Terry Harris also primarily lives in Los Angeles, which aided his familiarity with the area and knowledge of local politics and real estate. Tobias Harris said he was convinced to join forces in real estate with his brother after observing his hard work and passion to build low-income housing.

“That is a market that he is at and lives in and has been on the ground with for some time now,” Tobias Harris said. “He convinced me to be a part of it by his due diligence, the work he has put in, his body of work so far, what he has been doing in real estate and his passion towards it and the initiative behind it, which is really his main reason of why he is doing it.”

Tobias Harris is a 12-season NBA veteran who is currently playing for the Sixers in their first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks. While NBA All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey are the standouts for the Sixers, Harris helped the Sixers stay alive in the best-of-seven series with 19 points, 8 rebounds and three 3-pointers in Philadelphia’s 112-106 overtime victory in Game 5 on Tuesday. The Sixers, down 3-2 in the series, host the Knicks in Game 6 on Thursday.

When asked how the Sixers produce the energy to win again after Game 5, Harris said: “It’s the playoffs. That’s what is expected on a night-to-night basis, especially when your back is against the wall like [Game 5] and like the next game that we will have. For us, it’s just coming out to play harder, play tougher, play stronger. Do everything. Magnify every possession we have to get the best shot we can.

“I think [Game 5] we just did the best job we can making the right play. When things didn’t go our way sometimes, we moved on to the next play and stayed with it with the same type of energy and team morale as well picking each other up. We just keep it rolling with the same effort.”

Terry Harris played in college at Houston Christian, Eastern Michigan and historically Black North Carolina A&T. He averaged 3.5 points in 16 games with the Sixers’ G League affiliate Delaware Blue Coats during the 2019-2020 season. Harris said he used his $35,000 he made playing for the Blue Coats to buy a house in Delaware for $170,000 that he eventually flipped for $320,000.

It was that move that sparked a real estate career for Terry Harris.

“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 Harris brothers learned their financial literacy from their father and basketball agent Torrel Harris.

Torrel Harris is the chairman of Unique Sports Management International, a pro athlete representative firm that includes his son as a client. He has managed contracts, financial planning, career counseling, brand endorsements and marketing strategies for clients such as Basketball Hall of Famers George Gervin and Lynette Woodard, and former NBA players Cliff Robertson, Lewis Lloyd, Mark Davis and Gene Banks. Tobias Harris also grew up watching his dad operate successful urban clothing businesses he owned in Long Island, New York. Tobias Harris also owns Crumbl Cookie franchises in the Philadelphia area and Evans, Georgia.

“One of the main reasons I’m able to do what I’m doing in business is from seeing my father be an entrepreneur,” Terry Harris said. “One of the biggest privileges was seeing him go day by day in entrepreneurship. And then I remember I used to tell him, ‘Dad, this stuff is hard. I don’t know when the checks are coming in.’ And he’d tell me, ‘Yeah, you don’t know when, but they are going to come in.’ And seeing him in his confidence has definitely instilled me to have the confidence to go and pursue this. And not just to pursue it, but to excel in it.

“And it’s definitely something that it’s going to go a long way and it’s not just myself or this generation. It’s any other people, any other kids, people who want to excel in any type of entrepreneur[ship]. When you are able to see other people of your kind and your color doing it, it just makes you feel like you can also do it as well.”

“My dad was an entrepreneur and had his own business and still does have his own business. But I learned a lot just through that. And ownership is huge. And just the due diligence that he had to make as well to have his own company and for that company to be successful,” Tobias Harris said of his father in 2023.

Between 2019 and 2022, the racial wealth gap in the United States increased by $49,950 resulting to a total difference of $240,120 in wealth between the median white household and the median Black household, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances. Black and Hispanic real estate developers made up 0.56% of the industry in 2023, according to Bisnow. In the midst of this partnership with his brother, Terry Harris hopes many African Americans will learn that there are ways other than sports and entertainment to build generational wealth.

“To do this with Tobias, anytime you do a project with anybody or a family member, it just means a lot,” Terry Harris told Andscape. “One, he’s trusted me to get these things going, do them the right way, and we’re building a family legacy behind us building generational wealth. We’re branching into the realm of real estate development, which is very underserved in the Black community.

“It’s something that a lot of Black people do not get into. So, the fact that myself, a former athlete, Tobias, a current athlete, are doing this, it’s going to allow a lot of kids to see real estate development as another avenue that they can pursue and excel in.”

“It’s awesome, especially to be in it with your younger brother. A big thing for him and myself is do things you have a passion for and also your main ‘why’ of it. He genuinely wants to people to see people in great spaces, and both of us want to change the way affordable housing is looked at. What better way to do it than with your younger brother in a city that needs it desperately at this time?” Tobias Harris said.