In March 2023, The New York Times shed light on the poor representation of the Black community in the real estate space. It reported that out of the 111,000 commercial real estate development companies, only 464 were run by African Americans. In view of that, the accomplishments of Haroun Cowans, Founder and CEO of Goshen Development, are truly remarkable and inspirational. He is an exemplary representative of the underrepresented population in real estate. “I’m proud to represent the culture and community I come from, and I’m driven to be a great representative and steward of this [real estate] work,” he says.
Haroun aspires to grow his business, remain socially and personally successful, and make a difference in the real estate industry. For him, achieving success at the highest level means the ability to positively impact communities in which they develop real estate. Instead of just working as an external stakeholder in a community, he believes in building relationships with community members, recognizing their needs, and creating sustainable change that can produce positive, long-term economic outcomes.
The Beginning and the Realization
Today, Haroun is a role model for many aspiring African-American leaders in the real estate industry. The story of his success is even more awe-inspiring when one considers that he didn’t start his career in real estate. He began his professional journey as a stockbroker and by working in entertainment.
In 1997, when Haroun arrived in Five Points, Denver, he had his own business in music and concert promotion. Almost 8 years later, in 2005, he returned to the district to join US Bank, which was then a struggling commercial bank. A year later, he was promoted to Bank Manager – a position he held from 2006 to 2008. Haroun recalls that at the time of his onboarding, people would joke that if he could turn the bank around, he could run it. “That is what I did,” he says. He transformed the bank through prayer and dedication and by deepening its relationship with the community. Under Haroun’s leadership, his branch became a top performer in its category, which consisted of 2,400 branches.
During his stint as the Bank Manager, he realized that “community relationships equate to business success.” It propelled him to think about ways to replicate that success on a larger scale, and thus, real estate became his next career destination. “I realized the value in real estate,” Haroun says.
Moving to Real Estate from Finance
“My journey from finance to real estate started with investments I was making in my community while working as a banker,” Haroun points out. As a Bank Manager, he saw the effect of economics from a finance standpoint and recognized the importance of real estate in the bigger picture of a community’s function.
Everyone is involved in real estate in some way – they may sleep in it, entertain themselves in it, or work in it. Haroun wanted to find ways to curate the environments in which one lives and make a bigger impact on people living within the communities he worked in.
“Real estate directly and significantly impacts our lives,” he says. “I saw development as a way to make a positive impact in the community I grew up in as well as other communities in need of stronger economies.”
Haroun has been working in real estate directly since 2009. Quite early in his career, he got the opportunity to work in an underrepresented community. While building relationships with residents and business owners, he discovered what was most needed to turn a weak and stagnant economic landscape into a thriving business hub. “As a result of my commitment to the community, I was able to make a positive impact on the lives of people living there,” he says.
When Haroun first stepped into the real estate sector, he worked with Carl Bourgeois at Civil Technologies, Inc., an African-American firm. He was serving as Managing Director at Five Points Development Corporation prior to founding Goshen Development in June of 2021.
Facing Challenges and Overcoming Them
Haroun stepped into the real estate sector with a clear aim and vision. He, however, encountered several challenges while trying to establish his real estate development business. Real estate is a capital-intensive business, and like most African-Americans, Haroun, too, struggled to gain access to the capital. He had to be innovative and make sacrifices to overcome this challenge.
“While nothing comes easy, it helps to know how to steer a business properly while creating opportunities out of challenges instead of feeling limited by them,” Haroun says. “The approach that worked for me was to remain optimistic even at the most challenging times.”
His vision has always been – even before 2009: to invest in underrepresented areas that are under-appreciated. It was difficult to make people believe in this vision. Haroun recalls that before the gentrification of Five Points and the economic issues leading up to the Great Recession, and when he was in the midst of his transition from banking to real estate, people didn’t believe that the district had any value. This was largely because it was an African-American neighborhood that had been redlined – much of the perceived value had been extracted from it over time.
Haroun had to travel to Chicago just to find investors. “I applied for investment from an Urban Development Fund located in Chicago because people here in Denver just did not believe that, from a real estate perspective, there was any value associated with the neighborhood,” he says.
In addition to seeking help from people outside of the community – and convincing them to believe in his vision – Haroun also had to ensure that things were done the right way and without sacrificing the vision. He points out that he had to figure out how to capitalize on the vision without exploiting the historic and cultural value of the community. He adds that he wanted to build, curate, and cultivate within it while leaving all of the natural value intact.
“As a leader in the development of the area, cultivating community transformation took a lot of time, sacrifice, and risk,” he says. “But the greatest reward was the recognition of community members who were able to benefit from the impact that was made.”
He believes that in life, one is going to be successful as long as one works through each challenge to find a solution. “We live in a world full of problems, but success requires a solution-oriented mindset,” he says.
About Goshen Development
Goshen Development’s mission is: “to provide innovative and scalable solutions to help solve the ongoing housing affordability crisis.” It is because it recognizes that more than half of Colorado households are rent-burdened, spending a great deal of their income on housing. This, Haroun says, leads to housing instability, homelessness, displacement, poverty, educational underachievement, poor health incomes, and general hardship.
The company offers attractive investment opportunities that make a strong social impact in addition to providing strong financial returns. It also works with landowners in the direct sale of property. Haroun reveals that they use a fee development model that allows landowners to share in the profits of redevelopment.
And he also highlights that partnership is a major component of their success in real estate development. Goshen Development partners with other developers and municipalities to create affordable, mixed-rate projects. It also works with philanthropic partners to provide resident services. “We are advocates of affordable housing on every level and work to meet the growing needs of communities,” Haroun says.
Responsibilities as the CEO
Haroun is persistent and focused as the CEO of Goshen Development. His day-to-day responsibilities include planning, orchestrating, and operating in ways that are in alignment with his vision. In addition to developing real estate, he also works to develop the actual business.
Satisfying the expectations of their investors is of paramount importance to him. So, he is always refining his company’s operations and searching for projects to work on with other entities and stakeholders.
Haroun is also actively involved in the recruitment process. He says that he has an eye for great talent and he can place recruits in environments where they can flourish. “We don’t just impact the community, but we also impact the people who work with us and cultivate mutually beneficial partnerships as well,” he adds.
Haroun believes in collaboration with like-minded partners – who share his vision –to achieve his goals. He currently works in partnership with Mark Falcone of Continuum Partners LLC. Haroun and Mark focus on strategic alignment and model their partnership in a way that allows them to oversee every aspect of the business.
The work schedule of Haroun is hectic. Despite that, he manages to maintain a work-life balance. “The source of balance between my personal and professional life is my faith,” he says. “My faith is the driving force behind all of it, and I am always accountable to it.”
He also points out that he makes choices to better himself every day. That impacts his business and impacts him as a person. Haroun explains that it is because it allows him to have a fuller vision that is not just driven by personal ambition or business but by something greater than himself. And he derives his motivation from his personal belief that each person is here to make an impact that is reflective of God’s character. “I like to stay in alignment,” Haroun says. “So, each day I wake up and persevere through triumphs and challenges so that I can impact the world in a meaningful way.”
As a business leader, Haroun constantly measures his actions by his ability to remain committed to the vision he has for the city of Denver. He says that his interactions reflect a track record of putting the community first and being invested in the success of the community beyond real estate. “My team has been involved in the communities where we want to develop now and into the future; integrity is a commitment to that vision over time,” he adds.
Integrity in Real Estate Development
Haroun regularly reminds his team of the importance of keeping one’s word. It should be their number-one priority, he tells them. From the challenges he faced, Haroun has learned that it is very important to be steadfast in keeping one’s word and gaining the trust of one’s constituents and community.
Integrity, according to him, is very important in the real estate development business, especially if one is trying to make a positive impact in the community. “Taking a genuine approach is a form of security for us as a business and for the people who do business with us,” he says.
He is mindful that people would want to know his outlook and vision for the places they call home.
Haroun also points out that they have to adopt an analytical approach when working on real estate development, as there is no equal playing field when it comes to capital. “So, sometimes social capital based on integrity alone is the biggest asset,” Haroun says.
And, according to him, integrity and innovation go hand in hand. He says that a commitment to integrity requires finding innovative solutions that allow for job completion without breaking rules and laws or without violating the standards and values.
Community Comes First
“My lens is community-first, with an emphasis on creating positive outcomes for the people,” Haroun says. He models his development practices in a way that ensures feasibility and successful business outcomes. And, as his focus is not just on performance and the bottom line,
he stands out from his competitors in the highly competitive real estate development space.
“My bottom line is that the community comes first, and then from that community-first standpoint, I am skilled in maximizing profit,” he says.
As he grew up in a close, relationship-oriented community and worked with people who operate with a community-first approach, Haroun has the expertise to balance the needs of the people with the needs of the business.
He says that he has encountered a number of situations that have required him to draw upon his early career experiences to facilitate growth within organizations that are not operating at their full potential. “The transformation growth that has occurred under my leadership has been inspiring, but it has also helped create positive change for the people who utilize the systems I’ve impacted,” Haroun says.
Mentoring and Sharing Experience with Others
Haroun is part of a group of young folks and professionals called “Culture of Excellence.” He has mentored them for a number of years. He exposed them to professional topics and engaged them in things that he believe were helpful to him. He has also shared his faith with them.
“Regardless of what happens in business, faith is a big part of my success and I share that with them along with any expertise I have,” Haroun says. He also invites others to his network so that they can also share their experiences and expertise. Haroun believes that mentorship is not just about exposing young people to his own knowledge but it is also about sharing his network, his own mentors, and allowing them to learn from people who have helped him along the way.
“I’m able to share my professional experiences with people who want to be involved in real estate and finance, but from a broader sense, I simply want to provide examples of success,” Haroun says. He encourages young people to think about the impact they want to make in addition to connecting their professional activities with their faith in a way that significantly supports their holistic wellness.
Making Tangible Impact
Haroun intends to continue making a tangible impact using real estate as a model and vehicle. In addition to the brick-and-mortar, he also wants people to see the investment potential and how property can be an affordable solution to problems they see across the country.
In his own city and state, he finds that affordability is one of the biggest challenges in people’s lives. “So, a thread in the fabric that makes up my company, and one of the principles I operate with, is finding ways to make a larger tangible impact to positively affect people’s lives,” Haroun says.
