Roseland Center

• Strategic. Purchase profitable urban community shopping centers in partnership with Black entrepreneurs and community investors.
• Building Black wealth. Providing a path for increased ownership opportunities of real estate assets.
• Supporting Black talent. Providing opportunities to Black-owned businesses and opportunities for local community employment.
• Scalable. Planning to provide investment opportunities in up to 16 service-oriented community shopping centers.
• Black-owned. Project led and owned by a Black team.
• Return. Up to 49% pro-rata share of cash flow and profit to investors.

TREND is launching a crowdfunding campaign to allow Black entrepreneurs, community residents and other interested socially-minded impact investors – with as little as $1,000 – to co-own the Roseland Medical and Retail Center in Chicago, IL.

TREND, The Chicago TREND Corporation (“TREND”, the “Manager” or the ”Sponsor”), has negotiated a contract to acquire the 27,000 square foot Roseland Center and adjacent vacant land (the “Shopping Center” and/or “Property”) for $6,000,000. TREND will seek to engage Black contractors, professional service providers, lease to Black-owned businesses and create opportunities for local community employment at the Shopping Center. TREND is purchasing the Shopping Center at a favorable price from a Chicago-based, Black-owned firm, DL3 Realty, L.P. TREND will endeavor to operate the Shopping Center (and develop the adjacent land) as an asset that will continue to strengthen the community. TREND will own and operate the Shopping Center with pride and integrity, continuing the legacy of being a “trusted neighbor” in the community.

The Shopping Center is located at 100 W 111th St Chicago, IL 60628, directly across the street from the Roseland Community Hospital. Built in 2007, the shopping center is 100% occupied and contains eight retail spaces. Tenants include Chicago Family Health Center, a community-based non-profit that provides healthcare services and programs, Cermak Immediate Care, a walk-in clinic whose services include primary care and dental services, Fresenius, a Certificate of Need renal dialysis center, and Roseland Pharmacy One. In addition to the Shopping Center buildings, there is a vacant land parcel providing a future commercial or residential development opportunity for investors. The Shopping Center aligns with TREND’s investment criteria across four categories: demographics, location, tenant mix, and financial returns.

The Shopping Center is located in the heart of the Roseland Medical District, a 95-acre area designated by the State of Illinois in 2011. Representatives of the State, City, local institutions, and local community groups have collaborated for over a decade to create a strategy to attract and retain healthcare providers, medical research facilities, and emerging health tech enterprises to the area. Tenants at the Shopping Center were strategically selected to provide needed amenities and jobs to the 300,000 people served by the District. TREND will continue to operate the Shopping Center in a manner that complements the objectives of the Roseland Medical District.

Through decades of strategic neighborhood planning, there is some exciting development momentum in the Roseland area. The Roseland Community Medical District Master Plan recently received a $25 million State of Illinois appropriation to initiate the implementation of a 400,000 square foot Outpatient Campus, expected to include medical specialty care services, community supportive services, fitness, and medical supportive housing. The Plan also incorporates the impact of the $3.6 billion Red Line Extension (RLE) development and the transit-supportive development adjacent to these stations. The proposed 111th Street RLE Station (Roseland Medical District Station) is located west of the Shopping Center. The RLE is expected to expand the CTA Red Line to 130th Street, bolster Pullman Park, catalyze investment into the Michigan Avenue commercial corridor,  and benefit the development of Imani Village, two mixed-use buildings on 95th Street. All of this development activity is expected to contribute to the upward trajectory of the Roseland community and drive additional customers to the Shopping Centers.

TREND owns five shopping centers, three in Chicago and two in Baltimore, in partnership with +330, local and small impact investors. TREND is proud of the fact that 53% of its investors are African American and 40% are women. TREND collaborates with local community organizations and civic leaders to intentionally offer residents who live and work near the shopping center an opportunity to become co-owners. People of all races and income levels can invest in the Shopping Center. TREND believes that being intentionally inclusive does not mean being exclusive. This is TREND’s third crowdfunded project and first in Chicago.

Read the business plan for more detail.
 

Since 2020, TREND has been making the case that Black residents do not own commercial property in their neighborhoods. Consequently, Black communities have no voice and receive no financial benefit from the profitability and appreciation of shopping centers that they frequent as customers.

TREND is a social enterprise formed in 2016 with a mission to catalyze and accelerate strategic commercial development that strengthens urban neighborhoods, with a focus on communities of color. TREND has a unique perspective and expertise on many aspects of commercial real estate and offers an integrated set of services to strengthen urban commercial corridors and their surrounding neighborhoods.

Moreover, Black residents have few connections to visible and accessible Black shopping center owners and commercial real estate professionals. The fact that just three percent of Black households own commercial real estate was the subject of a recent Brookings Institution study - The devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods: The case of commercial property.

TREND is creating deal structures to enable 1,000+ Black, local and socially-minded impact investors to have an ownership stake in the revitalization of shopping centers located in majority Black neighborhoods and driving inclusive economic impact. The TREND thesis is that more people will patronize, protect and respect neighborhood shopping centers when they are investors in commercial real estate.

TREND wants Black entrepreneurs to have more opportunity to operate businesses as tenants and be service providers (leasing, property management and vendors) at the Shopping Center. TREND believes it can create over 600 construction jobs and 280 permanent jobs at shopping centers in majority Black communities.

TREND’s goal is to provide inclusive ownership of up to 16 community serving shopping centers by 2026, and to jump start the formation of the first Urban Community Retail REIT creating wealth for 1,000 Black entrepreneurs, community residents and other impact investors.

Lyneir Richardson is co-founder and CEO of The Chicago TREND Corporation. He is an experienced commercial and residential real estate developer with over 17 years of experience in urban retail development. Lyneir is also a Professional Practice Instructor in the Department of Management and Global Business at Rutgers Business School in Newark, New Jersey, and the Executive Director of the Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED), where he leads capacity-building programs that have assisted over 400 entrepreneurs.  Lyneir was recently appointed as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Lyneir has served as Chief Executive Officer of the primary economic development corporation in Newark, for two different mayoral administrations. He was Vice President of Urban Development at General Growth Properties, Inc., where he led the national initiative to bring quality shopping centers to ethnic neighborhoods in large U.S. cities. Early in his career, Lyneir founded Lakeshore Development Construction Company and was recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as Illinois Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He started his career as a corporate attorney at the First National Bank of Chicago.

Lyneir is a graduate of Bradley University and the University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the International Economic Development Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Economic Development Council, New Growth Innovation Network, Newark Arts Council and the Cook County Land Bank, and has served as Vice Chairman of the Illinois Housing Development Authority Trust Fund Board and as a Commissioner on the Chicago Plan Commission.

You can read about the entire leadership team here.

The Property Teams

TREND has a track record of assembling teams of Black experts (leasing, management, insurance – even the landscaping company) to provide hands-on property management, stay on top of issues, retain existing tenants and attract new ones to improve financial performance and community impact. Some of the diverse professionals include:

• Emerald Partners Property Management
• FP Commercial Advisors (leasing)
• Property Care Management (landscaping/snow removal)
• P2 Capital Insurance Brokers, Inc.
• Beehive Architects
• MDC INC Remodeling & Roofing

TREND has also helped nearly a dozen Black entrepreneurs to open and/or operate at the shopping centers that it owns.

TREND will continue to identify diverse professionals, contractors and tenants as it acquires shopping centers across the country.

TREND is structuring the transaction to intentionally give diverse, small impact investors and Chicago residents an opportunity to co-own the Shopping Center with TREND. We plan to finance the acquisition of the Shopping Center, which is expected to total $6,359,692, with a first mortgage debt of $3,809,610, and $2,550,082 of equity, including any funds raised through this offering.

TREND plans to use these funds to purchase the Shopping Center, make renovations and capital improvements and cover leasing, financing, and soft costs. Anticipated sources and uses are tabulated below:

We have created a mathematical calculation based on our current assumptions about the project's completion and operations.We estimate that net cash flow for the shopping center will grow from approximately $186,000 in year 1 to $256,000 in year 8 when we plan to sell the property.  Cash flow and profits from liquidation are expected to net a total of $6,532,402 over the 8-year period. Our calculation shows that a $1,000 investment might return $2,561 and a $10,000 investment might return $25,607 over that 8-year period.

Some of our assumptions will prove to be inaccurate, possibly for the reasons described in Risks of Investing. Therefore, the results of investing illustrated in our calculation are likely to differ in reality, for better or for worse, possibly by a large amount.

Please also review the LLC Agreement for additional detail on how distributions will be made.
 

The Company is engaged in a Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) offering. We plan to use the proceeds of this offering, together with a loan from a bank, to purchase and operate the Roseland Medical and Retail Center at 100 W 111th St Chicago, IL 6062.

We are trying to raise a maximum of $1,250,000, but we will move forward with the Shopping Center project and use investor funds if we are able to raise at least $100,000 (the “Target Amount”). If we have not raised at least the Target Amount by 11:59 pm EST on May 10, 2024 (the “Target Date”), we will terminate the Offering and return 100% of their money to anyone who has subscribed.

The minimum you can invest in the Offering is $1,000. Investments above $1,000 may be made in $500 increments (e.g., $1,500 or $2,000, but not $1,136). An investor may cancel his or her commitment up until 11:59 pm EST on May 8, 2024 (i.e., two days before the Target Date). If we have raised at least the Target Amount, we might decide to accept the funds and admit investors to the Company before the Target Date; in that case we will notify you and give you the right to cancel.

After we accept the funds and admit investors to the Company, whether on the Target Date or before, we will continue the Offering until we have raised the maximum amount.

You can download Form C and accompanying exhibits here, or view on SEC.gov.

Investments under Reg CF are offered by NSSC Funding Portal, LLC, a licensed funding portal.

A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment.

In making an investment decision, Investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. Furthermore, these authorities have not passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this document.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not pass upon the merits of any securities offered or the terms of the offering, nor does it pass upon the accuracy or completeness of any offering document or literature.

These securities are offered under an exemption from registration; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not made an independent determination that these securities are exempt from registration.

There are numerous risks to consider when making an investment such as this one and financial projections are just that - projections. Returns are not guaranteed. Conditions that may affect your investment include unforeseen construction costs, changes in market conditions, and potential disasters that are not covered by insurance. Please review Risks of Investing for a more expansive list of potential risks associated with an investment in this Company.