CLEVELAND — A local program designed to help minority real estate developers grow – and invest in city neighborhoods – is taking on its second group of entrepreneurs.
The Cleveland Equitable Development Initiative just announced its new class. The 15 participants will meet weekly for the next eight months and work closely with mentors to move their projects forward.
The program, launched in 2023, strives to give developers of color who lack the family wealth or connections of their white counterparts better odds of succeeding in a tough business.
The goal is to shake up a homogeneous industry and boost entrepreneurs who want to build projects in communities where people look like them.
“This cohort’s diversity will fuel groundbreaking projects that reflect the true spirit of our city,” William Willis, who leads the initiative, said in a news release.
Two local nonprofits, both civic-minded lenders, teamed up on the idea to fill a gap in the market. Cleveland Development Advisors, or CDA, is an arm of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the metropolitan chamber of commerce. Village Capital Corp. is a subsidiary of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, an organization focused on community development.
They’re working closely with Capital Impact Partners, a nonprofit lender that runs similar programs in Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, the San Francisco Bay area and Washington, D.C. Capital Impact Partners is based in Arlington, Virginia.
The first Cleveland-area class graduated in June. They finished with a pitch competition, where participants split $100,000 in grants.
The top project, a proposed high-tech cold-storage facility along the Opportunity Corridor, won $50,000. The other big winners were an affordable townhouse plan for Slavic Village and shipping-container homes in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood.
The first class included a former NFL player, real estate agents, small landlords and property managers. The second class is just as varied. The members are:
- Akin Affrica, a longtime real estate investor and restaurant owner. His portfolio of restaurants includes Angie’s Soul Café, Zanzibar Soul Fusion and the Vegan Club and Cleveland Breakfast Club at Shaker Square. He’s focused on building new homes and transforming a commercial property into a food hall, according to a news release.
- Jenice Contreras, the president and CEO of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development. She’s worked on CentroVilla25, the redevelopment of a warehouse in the city’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood as a market, with offices and entertainment areas. That project is scheduled to partially open this year.
- Stephen Davis, the co-founder of Pantheon Innovative Builders. The company is focused on affordable housing and novel construction methods, like 3D printing. Davis previously worked for the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority.
- Kevinee Gilmore, a nonprofit founder who is dedicated to creating stable places for young people to live once they age out of foster care. As a child, she lived in group homes, other facilities and foster homes.
- Briget Grant, an entrepreneur who recently launched a minority-led and women-led business called Ryte 2 Development Corp. She is working on a mixed-use project in Glenville that will serve residents with mental health conditions, other disorders and disabilities.
- Naji Kelley, who got into real estate in 2020 and now leads the NHK Companies, a minority- and veteran-owned investment and development business. He has experience in communications, logistics and information technology.
- Tracey Kirksey, the center director for the Rose Centers for Aging Well, part of the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging. She once worked as the executive director for the Glenville Development Corp., a now-defunct nonprofit that focused on housing and economic development on the city’s East Side.
- Cecil Lipscomb, who leads the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland, which provides grants and other help to nonprofits and small businesses. His resume includes jobs at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University.
- Ishmael Martin, the founder of Martin Premier Homes. He has rehabbed and built houses in Cleveland and several inner-ring suburbs, including Warrensville Heights, Shaker Heights and Maple Heights.
- Michael Mendoza, an associate broker at FASS Real Estate Services in Shaker Heights. He previously worked in administration at the Cleveland Clinic.
- Brandon Moore, a project manager at Marous Brothers Construction. He has worked at several construction businesses in the region, on projects ranging from apartment buildings to government offices to public schools.
- Alex Quinones, the founder of ENV Properties. He has experience managing contractors and renovation projects.
- Carnisha Rodgers, who has a background in accounting. She’s a West Coast native who moved to Cleveland in 2020 and became interested in community development and neighborhood revitalization.
- Ceyon Swoope, who has worked as a loan officer and a real estate agent. He had experience rehabbing and flipping properties.
