TRANSFORMATIVE REAL ESTATE FEATURE
HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOODS ARE A HOTSPOT FOR RENOVATION AND NEW CONSTRUCTION
R
esearch shows one rundown house on a street can lower property values for everyone. Mike Rogers and Brian Giattina are betting that the opposite is also true. The two teamed up to create Porchlight as a tool to buy and manage property, with a plan to reinvigorate Mobile’s historic urban core. Their first stop is the Oakleigh Garden District and Texas Hills area, bound by Government Street, Ann Street, Broad Street and Magnolia Cemetery. Since 2017, Porchlight bought between 35 and 40 properties, cleaned up dozens more and began building its fourth new home. Rogers is the president of Rogers and Willard Construction, and Giattina is the chief financial officer of Giattina Aycock Architecture Studio in Birmingham. The two met while working on conceptual projects for a couple of Mobile’s high-tech companies. Late one night, their conversation turned from work to hobbies to a shared zeal for housing and revitalization. The existing structures purchased by Porchlight included boarded-up homes, an eight-unit apartment building and a few commercial properties. The company has taken on restoring some and selling others. “It’s not an overnight fix. Not a get-rich-quick scheme. Not for the faint of heart,” says Rogers.
He says he has walked the streets building relationships with longtime residents and working to earn their trust. Buying these properties means finding the owners, most of whom have moved away, and convincing them to sell in order to establish a clear, lien-free title. 5 0 4 . 8 3 7 . 5 4 4 4 print | web | graphic design
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Brian Giattina and Mike Rogers are partners in Porchlight, a company investing in Mobile’s residential historic core. BUSINESS VIEW
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