J.Lo and A-Rod help Bronx kids live the American real estate dream

Jennifer LopezTo amass a fortune in real estate despite New Yorks crazy housing prices that is the challenge thrown down by singer Jennifer Lopez and her boyfriend Alex Rodriguez to kids from the Bronx the citys poorest borough Around 50 young students from the Bronx most of them black or Latino have been selected for Project Destined designed by JLo and ARod as the retired baseball superstar Rodriguez is known to teach them the ins and outs of financing and real estate The youths underwent intense instruction from lawyers bankers mortgage companies and realtors but the course will not be just theoretical The student team that comes up with the best business plan will have the chance to buy a building worth 15 million in the Bronx and develop itIn this real estate mecca its skyline in constant flux and whose most famous alumnus Donald Trump is now in the White House good contacts can open unimaginable doors That was the philosophy of the projects two founders Fred Greene and Cedric Bobo both of them successful black businessmen who wanted to pass on their knowledge and experience to kids from humble backgrounds What we are doing here is giving kids a chance to work with us almost like apprentices said Bobo Kids come in analyze properties we then buy them and we share a portion of the profits We want to put owners and stakeholders in the communities where they live work and play If we do that we do a lot said Bobo an experienced investment banker for the Carlyle Group one of the power houses of Wall Street Before moving to the Bronx where more than 35 percent of the population live in poverty the program ran in Detroit Memphis and Miami helping young people from poorer backgrounds learn the ropes of businessEscaping the ghettoAt Yankee stadium in the Bronx the students split up into six teams lay out their business strategies to a panel of experts that includes Jonathan Gray head of the Blackstone Group and Lopez the megastar singer who herself grew up in the Bronx but who is selling her Manhattan penthouse apartment for 27 million The winning team will be the one with the most persuasive strategy that secures the greatest profit The winners will then become minority shareholders in the development and receive some of the earnings from the property helping pay their university tuition as long as they stay enrolled in the project and take part in more courses online In a pretraining session Rodriguez chats with participants on an impressive balcony overlooking Times Square Real estate is a way out of the hood he saysFor real estate is the one game where you can get rich it doesnt matter if you dont have any money and it doesnt matter what market you can go buy real estate all over the world with no money The exball star says he is living proof of that he bought a duplex in southern Florida in 2003 and now owns more than 10000 apartments through his company Monument Capital Management Im really excited to learn how the real estate market works said Jovani Amaxtal an 18yearold philosophy student whose Mexican mother works slicing loaves for street vendors Thats where the money isDont settle for lessI come from very humble beginnings My mother worked two jobs But I believed I was going to be the leader of my family and I was going to make a difference said Rodriguez who grew up in Washington Heights a Dominican neighborhood in New York Dont settle for anything less This is the American dream he urged the students The price of a square meter of real estate in the Bronx is 3081 the average annual income of a family is 35176 Its a lot of hard work but its something that everybody could do said Charles Wu one of the project instructorsYou dont have to have huge money You can start small and you can build a portfolio over time Now Ive told my friend like when I am 27 I am going to own the building or two or five said student Andrea Alarcon 17 who was born in Ecuador and whose mother works long shifts as a waitress to provide for the family Being a homeowner Id love to Having a house under my name I am ready said Ruben Germosa 18 who the week before had visited Harvard Business School with Bobo his mouth wide open in awe He is considering applying next year to the university but still does not know how he would pay the tuition feesCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever