You’re saying that if the details (the ones you mentioned being “enough [paying] tenants to move the needle” and “the buildings were up to code“) were in place that his loan acceptance would be guaranteed, but if the article is correct and he’s not getting the loans because of discrimination, then he wouldn’t get the loans even if the details were all correct.
So I’m saying that if your argument holds and he would be all but guaranteed to get the loans with the details sorted out and he doesn’t get the loans, then you would essentially have to agree that discrimination is a factor.
Here’s the crux.
If you’re willing to argue that he should have little trouble, then excellent: we’ve got a barometer for whether discrimination is a factor.