As Mayor Paul Young works toward his goal of adding 10,000 housing units in Memphis by 2030, John Hope Bryant says he is ready to buy two homes himself.
Bryant, founder of Atlanta-based financial literacy nonprofit Operation HOPE, sees promising investment opportunities in the city, and he wants Memphians to recognize the potential too.
In town promoting his book, “Capitalism for All: Inclusive Economics and the Future-Proofing of America,” Bryant joined Young for a Nov. 9 fireside chat at Downtown Memphis’ Cossitt Library to challenge local residents to get financially ready to participate in the city’s future.
He urged the audience to consider a strategy that had worked for him: Buy property when others are reluctant, recognize the underlying value before others do, and hold the investment long enough to benefit from its growth.
“I didn’t say I’m going to buy two homes out of charity,” Bryant said. “Look, I want a return on investment.”
Bryant described buying hundreds of homes in the Atlanta area and later selling his real estate investment company for a nine-figure sum. He presented that experience as a lesson in looking beyond a neighborhood’s current reputation to its potential over time.
“That’s what investing is,” Bryant said, recalling his earlier housing investments that no one wanted when he bought them.
Seeing the value in Memphis
Bryant’s message is aimed at people willing to invest in working-class housing that offers an entry into home ownership and an opportunity to build equity, he argued.
His declaration that he wanted to buy two Memphis homes was an expression of intent, however, since he did not identify properties or announce completed purchases during the conversation. But it grounded his broader argument that residents should recognize opportunities around them.
“This is a gold mine,” he said.
Bryant also encouraged aspiring business owners to consider buying established firms from retiring proprietors, including professional practices with existing clients, reputations and cash flows.
“Go buy the dentist’s office. Go buy the law firm. Go buy the architecture firm,” he said, challenging the assumption that entrepreneurship requires starting from scratch.
Young: ‘We spread the peanut butter too thin’
For Young, the 2030 housing initiative, including affordable and market-rate homes in the city’s core, is tied to a larger effort to rebuild the population and economic activity in Memphis neighborhoods.
During the conversation, Young described how Memphis had expanded geographically while established neighborhoods lost residents. The result, he said, was a city responsible for providing services across more square miles without enough population to support the cost.
“It’s because we spread the peanut butter too thin,” he said.
Police and fire protection, road maintenance, parks, community centers and trash collection all must serve a larger footprint, Young explained, while the movement of residents away from older neighborhoods also weakened the customer base for businesses left behind.
This migration pattern is usually referred to as “white flight,” but Young pushed back, calling the exodus “economic flight.”
“It wasn’t just white people. People with means left, and they left because there was better housing,” he said. “There was newer housing.”
Young said bringing residents back into neighborhoods could help restore activity along commercial corridors such as Elvis Presley Boulevard, Lamar Avenue, McLemore Avenue, Park Avenue and Winchester Road.
“So this strategy of bringing more people living in our neighborhoods and communities, this is an economic development plan in addition to a housing plan,” he said.
Young said residents’ understanding of his administration’s goals would help build support for the changes he wants to make.
“I’m trying to change Memphis forever,” he said. “We have so much talent, so much opportunity.”
Still, credit is a barrier, Bryant said, between residents and the financing they need to buy homes or develop businesses. Operation HOPE offers free credit and money management coaching, he said, along with homebuyer education for help with understanding the loan process.
To seize new opportunities, Bryant recommends improving credit scores, reducing debt and increasing savings.
Claiming a stake in the AI economy
When Young turned the discussion to artificial intelligence and data centers, Bryant offered the same argument about local participation. He urged residents to learn how to use the technology and press companies for tangible community benefits.
“Your job is not going to be replaced by AI,” Bryant said. “Your job is going to be replaced by somebody who uses AI.”
Bryant acknowledged that jobs would be disrupted. But he also described AI’s limitations, including its tendency to produce inaccurate answers, which creates a continuing need for human judgment and oversight.
His challenge to Memphis was to negotiate for a share of the investment, including jobs, internships, apprenticeships, assistance with homeownership and opportunities for small businesses.
“Negotiate the best deal you can,” he said.
Young pointed to the city’s current 90-day effort led by Chief Operating Officer Chris Winton to develop data center guardrails and determine what Memphis should seek from supercomputing companies.
“We want our residents to be the winner,” Young said.
The two men ended their discussion with an assignment for residents to engage in the collective work of strengthening a community.
“Work with the mayor,” Bryant said. “Pick a ZIP code and work, volunteer, go door to door.”
Learn more at OperationHOPE.org.
