it’s likely tohave some compelling evidence
to work with. Thus far, the cameras have
been effective. “We’ve found that as soon
aswe start toput cameras up at properties,
people who are on the dark side begin to
pickupand leave immediately.We’ve found
it tobeagreat deterrent,” saysVaughn.
Vaughn is far from being just a silent
investor withOmni. He has spent the past
couple of years studying how the afford-
able housing market functions, includ-
ing how transactions are financed, and he
spends considerable time at the company’s
properties,making sure everything is func-
tioning smoothly. Making himself the face
of the company is just good business, says
Vaughn. “Youhave tomake apersonal con-
nection to these people for this process to
even have a chance to get off the ground,”
he says. “Itgives them someone to reachout
to and touch if things gowrong. We’re not
a big conglomerate.” The personal touch
has also helped Omni win out over other
developerswhen apropertyhas been in the
bankruptcyprocess andup for grabs.
Schneur believes that Omni was granted
the right to buy Brooklyn’sNobleDrewAli
Plaza because he andVaughnwent tomeet
with tenants at that notoriously troubled
project. “Wemetwith the tenants and talk-
ed to tenants,” says Schneur, whose family
came from St. Petersburg, Russia, whenhe
was seven years old and lived for a time in
Section8housing inBrooklyn. “Someof the
[
other
]
owners thought we were out of our
minds to go there, period. We didn’t bring
securitywithusor anything like that. If you
do that, I thinkyouare slighting thepeople.
They live there— they don’t have security.”
After the visit, the tenant group supported
Omni’sbid to takeover thebuilding.
Recognizing that there’s a need for af-
fordable housing all over the country,
Vaughn andhis partners, through their sis-
ter companyOmniAmerica, have started to
expand. They’ve already purchased a prop-
erty inWyoming and are searching inMi-
ami andLouisiana for other opportunities.
For Vaughn, finding something to devote
his energy and passion to now that base-
ball is behind him has been tremendously
gratifying.Despite the fact thatOmni has a
never-endingseason,Vaughndoesseesome
similaritiesbetweenhissporting lifeandhis
career as a businessman. For instance, he
says that he gets almost asmuch of a thrill
whenOmni acquiresanewpropertyas, say,
hedidwhenhe steppedup to the plate and
crushed a ball over the outfield fence. Al-
most. “There’s nothing like hitting a homer
in the bottom of the ninth to win a game.
But there’s also not a greater feeling than
when you close adeal,” he says. But there is
onemajor difference between the ventures:
“Youcanbeonabad teamandplaywelland
still be anall-star,”Vaughn says. “With this,
you know, if one person doesn’t pull their
weight, youhaveabusteddeal.”
And though Omni is running a profi -
able business, Vaughn never loses sight of
the fact that he andhis partners are chang-
ing lives in the process. “That’s what it’s all
about,” he says.
ChrisWarren
is a Los Angeles–based freelancer who writes
for the
LosAngeles TimesMagazine
and
Forbes
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