T
ayyib Smith, a successful marketing firm owner in Center City Philadelphia, was introduced to the concept of "ethical" real estate development through Theaster Gates, a Chicago-based community activist and artist. Gates' approach combines low-cost preservation, art installations, and patient community engagement to revitalize neglected Black neighborhoods. Inspired by this model, Smith aimed to apply it to Philadelphia's forgotten communities.

    Since then, Smith has organized provocative public art events, including a ghostly tribute to historic figures on South Street. However, his real estate endeavors have faced challenges due to the city's bureaucracy and the pandemic. Undeterred, Smith and his business partner, Jacob Roller, are now poised to implement Gates' ideas at one of Kensington Avenue's most neglected intersections.

    Their $35 million project involves converting a derelict bank into a banquet hall and commissary kitchen for Strother Enterprises, a Black-owned caterer, with apartments renting at market prices. While this may not seem different from other developments, Smith sees real estate as "political action by other means." He aims to tackle Philadelphia's yawning racial wealth gap by giving underrepresented businesses priority access to prime retail space and eliminating notorious opioid dealers' magnets.

    Smith's interest in ethical development goes beyond the projects themselves; he also uses his art, photography, and writing to amplify the wealth-gap issue. As a "neighborhood curmudgeon," Smith regularly attends community meetings to challenge city officials on issues like the problematic Land Bank. He believes that by speaking out against dysfunction, he can bring about change.

    Smith's background in marketing and Roller's experience in real estate have proven complementary skills for their partnership, Smith & Roller. Their first major project involves a vacant bank, reminiscent of Gates' transformation of a similar Chicago building into the Stony Island Arts Bank. The Textile National Bank on Kensington Avenue holds buried history, both grand and painful, which they plan to revive through restoration and reopening its ornate entrance.

    Philadelphia has nurtured several developers who practice various forms of ethical development, including Ken Weinstein's Jumpstart program and Lindsey Scannapieco's work at Bok. Smith continues to push his real estate colleagues to adopt the tenets of ethical development, emphasizing that it must involve "some humanity" beyond traditional zoning standards.