Justin Clemons
There’s a mighty dose of immigrant grit sprinkled into the business plans and housing developments of Comunidad Partners.
Antonio Marquez started the real estate investment firm at his kitchen table 17 years ago, but he’ll tell you that its roots go back even further with his own family. His father, a Mexican immigrant, was a farmworker before scraping together enough money to start his own business out of his garage importing and distributing Hispanic groceries, such as beans and peppers, to small markets in California.
“Growing up, I was cut from the same cloth,” says Marquez. “I worked in the family business, worked with my dad. I started from the bottom sweeping factory floors to picking up ethnic products at the border to distribute to grocery stores and had to earn everything, which was the best gift my family could have ever given to me because it gave me the grit, perseverance, and character to make me who I am today.”
His father, Juan, who had a fifth-grade education, was able to grow his importing business into a major distributer of Hispanic goods, but it wasn’t easy. The large national stores regularly turned the elder Marquez away, saying there was no demand for his items before becoming some of his biggest customers years later. The hardships that his family endured drive Marquez’s work today.
“What we’re trying to do at Comunidad is provide an easier life, better opportunities, and better equity ultimately,” he says. “That is the vision we’ve had since the beginning.”
Marquez knew he wanted to get into real estate but didn’t want to be part of just another investment firm. Eager to make a difference, he gravitated toward affordable and workforce housing.
“We look at housing as more than shelter,” he says. “We look at it as a vehicle for change, a vehicle of opportunity for our residents and the communities we serve.”
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