T4781, An Introduction

    Trust 4781, or T4781, originates from Elkhart, Indiana, where founders Will Lipscomb and Steve Wall are currently hard at work preserving distressed buildings in the city’s historic districts.  The duo find themselves doing what they love in neighborhoods they find fresh and intriguing for ethnic diversity, history, and old-style craftsmanship.

    Lipscomb grew up in LaGrange, Indiana, near his present home in Mongo, a small town bordering Pigeon River Fish & Wildlife Area.  After working in the airline industry and attending Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, he returned to Indiana as a chef and entrepreneurial bistro owner.  In 2007, he began shifting the focus of his Common Plea Bistro and Bakery from lunch services to establishing a presence at local farmers markets, combining talents for baked goods and gardening.  At the time, it was a bonding experience for him with a foster child he was hosting, but he quickly established a reputation for quality baked goods with weekenders heading to the lake.

    Wall came to Elkhart in a more roundabout fashion, attending Georgetown University before working for the railroad as a property manager and establishing a side business as a non-profit consultant.  After several moves between Minneapolis and Chicago, Wall, who grew up on a Mennonite farmstead in Montana, finally chose to resettle in Elkhart due to its traditional Mennonite population and easy access to Chicago.  Purposefully buying a fixer-upper, Wall freely admits that some of the buildings he is working to stabilize in Elkhart are a bit more challenging that he was hoping, but has nonetheless found himself fascinated by the neighborhoods in which he lives and works.  “At first, I was worried I’d be a bit bored out here, but that has definitely not been a problem,” he reflects.

    Lipscomb and Wall met in Elkhart where they quickly began helping each other out with building projects.  “It’s just a lot easier with two persons – everything from having someone to bounce ideas off of to having someone help carry sheetrock,” they both quickly agree.

A building targeted for rehabilitation in Cincinnati.

     Lipscomb came to T4781 with projects in other areas, including a duplex he is remodeling in Cincinnati.  On a trip through the city, he fell in love with Over-the-Rhine (OTR), an historic German-heritage district known for its ornate abandoned buildings.  There he met Kelsey Hillebrand, a professional architect who shares his passion for OTR and served as guide in Lipscomb’s quest to become part of the revitalization effort. 

   The idea for a non-profit arose as Lipscomb and Wall contemplated buildings they purchased through a tax sale.  They seem more concerned with preserving interesting structures and contributing to the neighborhoods around them than with maximizing profits.  “We’re definitely not in this to flip houses,” they agree, “by working together we actually hope to be able to work with buildings that are too challenging for others, or that promise too little return for other types of investors.”  In fact, one of Lipscomb’s key criteria seems to be lack of a roof or a tree growing through the porch, references to the dilapidated state of his current home, Mongo House, before he purchased the property and restored it in 2004.

    They also consider issues outside of the structures themselves.  “We need businesses, jobs, and gardens,” they contend.  “It’s not enough to tear down or to paint a few houses, what we really need are comprehensive efforts to keep things together, things that corporate investors and banks seem to devalue, like trees, diversity, access to gardens and fresh produce, and just having neighbors who look out for each other.”  

    Wall is quick to point out that many of the so-called problems in these neighborhoods are actually widely exaggerated by outsiders who don’t live in them.  “There’s a perennial story of being mugged around here.  Almost everyone claims to have been “almost mugged” here,” he notes with a smirk, “but I’m not sure they actually understand what a mugging really is.”  Both Wall and Lipscomb have lived and worked in large cities with no problems.

    Lipscomb’s favorite anecdote is about the children with the gardens.  “One day I was working in the garden and these kids came up and asked why I was playing in the dirt.  I was going to reply sarcastically to them when I realized that they really didn’t know what I was doing – they had no idea about gardening or plants, or probably even where their food comes from.” 

    “Also,” he is quick to continue, “is the problem with flowers.  We can’t keep flowers at the properties because they are picked as soon as they bloom.  The kids are so starved for nature and connecting with it that they no longer know how to,” noting that the kids often accidently kill the plants they are seeking to admire.

    T4781 comes from the realization that in addressing all of these issues, the two find themselves needing to look at things from both the bottom-line profitability of the business world and the altruistic non-profitability of educational outreach and neighborhood building.  Both sides, they claim, pay dividends, but in very different ways that often escape the accounting of corporate investors, large banks, and even well-intentioned city officials.

    “We also need more alternatives,” they note.  “Some of the larger non-profits that also work in our neighborhoods are really good at certain things, such as raising money to board up or tear down dangerous buildings, but that doesn’t mean that their approach is healthy for all buildings or all neighborhoods.  There’s a point at which you need to stop tearing everything down and start preserving things before it’s all gone.”  On the business-side, they are equally quick to point out the lack of solid options to invest in neighborhood stabilization as opposed to gentrification. 

    “Cities often talk about rebuilding on certain lots they have just torn down, but they don’t seem to understand the difficulties in raising financing under those conditions.  In order to replace structures now being torn down, the city will have to displace all those who cannot afford to pay the rents necessary to justify new buildings.  We can buy and rehab an existing structure for $40,000, but you simply cannot afford new construction at that price, and higher future rents have to be based on the new financials in order to obtain financing.  What we need is stabilization without gentrification.”

    Apples also played a key role in the decision to establish T4781.  Lipscomb and Wall sell apples and garden produce along with baked goods at local farmers markets.  Noting the number of vacant lots around some of their buildings, they have asked cities such as Elkhart to support establishment of urban orchards on some of the properties.  It seems to be a good idea addressing concerns for food availability, basic nutrition, food education, green space, open urban space and returning vacant lots to viable and productive uses – increasingly identified as a key component in the war to keep drugs, crime and gangs out of distressed neighborhoods.

Wall's home in Elkhart had been vacant for several years.

    Their original idea was to use their businesses to establish orchards on vacant lots in Elkhart, orchards that would be established with a strong focus on meeting neighborhood nutritional needs while educating consumers about farms, orchards and even different varietals.  “We want to reconnect the neighborhood to the land and to their food,” they explain.

    The idea has worked in cities such as Detroit, Chicago and New York.

    Their end goal was that the orchards would eventually be donated to non-profits to maintain as green and open spaces in support of the established educational outreach.  Lipscomb and Wall eventually realized that they could greatly simplify their efforts and work more easily with other non-profits by simply establishing a non-profit to direct the projects and to own the orchards from the outset.

    Cities prefer to work with non-profits and establishment of T4781 would allow for a strategic division of labor.  The business side can work to establish, help manage, and market the orchards, while the non-profit can work to develop programming, nutritional outreach, and local food support while making long-term ownership decisions in support of the neighborhoods’ larger social needs.

    “It’s a win-win,” points out Wall, “if we are going to run our businesses like non-profits, it seems more effective to just establish non-profits in the first place, and run them using smart business practices.”

    “Non-profits have other benefits,” adds Lipscomb, “In the business world, if you want to include someone in a project, you either have to pay them or they have to have money to invest.  In a non-profit, you can work with people who share your interest and enthusiasm without the money issue.”

    And that is seemingly what they have done in establishing a board including Hillebrand, a professional architect with a heart for old buildings, and William Ames, a chemist with a passion for urban food production.

    “Others are considering becoming involved,” Wall promises, “but first we need to focus on the small details, such as raising money, establishing best practices, and obtaining access to projects such as the apple orchards in Elkhart.  I’m confident that whatever we get ourselves into, our team will grow to include the expertise and experience necessary to make it a success.” 

    “And we still have our own businesses to manage.  I just got new banners for the market in Goshen.  We will still be there every Saturday, the one day we aren’t painting, pruning, mowing or cleaning up the buildings,” Lipscomb concludes.

    If anyone can successfully revitalize a street using fresh paint, apple trees and Amish-style pies, it will be probably be Lipscomb, Wall and the team of fresh talent behind T4781.