After Lukee Forbes got his landlord certification from the city of Albany, he hit the ground running to create affordable housing throughout the city.

“This is a form of reverse gentrification, where we start to combat the things that redlining has caused,” Forbes explains as he gives a tour of his newly purchased properties off Clinton Avenue.

What You Need To Know

  • Lukee Forbes and Shelby Lemoine are remodeling Clinton Avenue properties to create more affordable housing in Albany

  • They plan to offer resources and guidance for tenants to become property owners

  • As landlords, they want to work with tenants who are struggling amid COVID-19

The 26-year-old Forbes is working with local realtor Shelby Lemoine, director of Apogee Build. Together, they are purchasing and remodeling properties along Clinton Avenue.

“I would like to set a precedent in my building to always lend a helping hand when hard times come into play like now,” said Lemoine.

“We started to see in the beginning of COVID, how people were affected by the hardships, and that was really one of the things that Apogee took into consideration,” added Forbes.

Housing inequality in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) community and the looming eviction crisis prompted them to take a new approach to what it means to be a landlord.

“What we are doing is sticking by our tenants and working with them to build equity and their credit and helping them possibly becoming landlords themselves,” said Forbes.

Over the summer, Forbes was a vocal fixture in the local Black Lives Matter movement. He said transferring that energy into this project was a way for him to turn advocacy into action.

“It’s really about equity and inclusion and stopping blight,” said Forbes.

He’s also looking to turn protest into policy by running for mayor of Albany this year. It’s a lot to juggle for even the most seasoned citizens, but he’s says he’s up to the challenge.

“I’m going to balance it like I do everything else. Multi-tasking is in my nature,” said Forbes.

Ultimately, both men hope their efforts will have a positive effect on their community.