Jermaine Brooks, co-owner of WRJ Developers, a minority-owned development group, is currently developing houses on Cleveland’s east side using shipping containers. Brooks told The Land how a drive down E. 72nd St. north of St. Clair Ave. in 2019, with friends William “Willie” Levy and Richard Singleton, gave birth to WRJ Developers and opened up a new business model that brought together their shared love for building homes in Black neighborhoods.
Brooks said that as the three friends drove down E. 72nd St. they saw a “for sale” sign on one of the houses. He remembered that he had a client selling properties next to that same home. Brooks, Levy and Singleton had been separately working on rehabbing homes. According to Brooks, it was Levy that summed up what he and Singleton were thinking. “In a moment of clarity, Willie (Levy) said, ‘This is not a bad area to build in,’” Brooks recounted. “Everything started falling into place when they saw a shipping container already on the property.”
WRJ’s goal is to build homes using shipping containers. Their focus is on modular homes, which are prefabricated structures that are partially or fully built in an off-site factory. WRJ has already built the first two-unit home at 860 East 73rd St., and according to Brooks, the first occupants are expected to move in this month. The completed duplex (two-family unit) will rent for $1,300 a month per unit. Each unit is 960 square feet and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
WRJ Developers aims to transform properties on E. 72nd Street and St. Clair Avenue into 64 units of multi-family housing with a mix of 2-bedroom, 2 bath and 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartments (totaling 51,200 square feet). WRJ said they are hoping to break ground this fall. The total estimated cost of the project is $13 million. WRJ is currently working on accessing Opportunity Zone Funds, HUD Financing, private equity, personal funds, community crowdfunding, and a capital stack through national lenders including LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), Capital Impact Partners, OHFA (Ohio Housing Finance Agency). They are also working with a co-developer.
The group was selected as one of fourteen emerging developers of color to participate in Cleveland Development Advisors’ (CDA) new Cleveland Equitable Development Initiative, a program to help minority developers.
Interaction with city council and community groups
“After deciding on the properties in the St. Clair Superior area, the first thing we did was call Ward 10 Councilman [Anthony T.] Hairston up. He looked at our plan and he said, ‘I would love this in my ward.’ He supported us from day one,” said Brooks.
The St. Clair Superior Development Corporation has been just as supportive. Brooks said that Famicos Foundation, another nonprofit community development organization, will be a 20% co-developer for the apartment building that WRJ is planning to build in 2024.
Brooks sees the work WRJ is doing in the St. Clair Superior area as a group effort. “Just to see the residents in the area happy is a blessing,” he said. “They’re outside painting their houses while we’re working on our project. Now we’re seeing other projects happen in the area. Care Alliance Health has the old Tops property on 72nd. The CHEERS (Cleveland Harbor Eastern Embayment Resilience Strategy) project over by Gordon Park. The merchants and homeowners are getting excited about all the neighborhood activity. ”
Using shipping containers to build homes
Brooks describes a process where new developers, especially minority developers, are often at a disadvantage because they lack the financial wherewithal to complete large projects, even if they have the team and experience to take them on. “Banks wouldn’t lend to us because we’re a new company, and when you come up with a plan to take to majority contractors, by the time they put the markup on it, the numbers just weren’t weren’t working for us,” Brooks commented.
After they realized that they all had experience renovating homes, WRJ decided the next step was to acquire an existing structure that needed work. That’s when the idea of modular buildings and shipping container construction came up, because of its similarity to residential renovation.
“We started doing our homework,” Brooks said. “We liked the fact that once it’s fabricated and the containers are shipped and stacked, which can happen in a day, now it’s just a regular residential renovation. So it pretty much helps us to level that playing field, which gave us a niche and a market.”
Brooks said that the containers are ideal because they already provide the building envelope. He added, “During the fabrication process at the warehouse, windows, doors, structural beams, insulation framing, holes cut for rough end plumbing, HVAC and electrical are all done. Once shipped to site, stacked and welded, we are simply doing the finishes, which saves onsite construction costs and increases the speed with which we can get to market and occupancy.”
“There are a couple of other shipping container buildings in Cleveland, like Box Spot at [8005 Kinsman Rd.], but they’re commercial properties and not homes,” Brooks said. He contends that theirs is the first duplex multi-family home that’s been made out of shipping containers in Ohio.
He also noted that the Corktown area of Detroit has been building homes with the shipping container concept. Brooks said his team looked at shipping container homes in Nashville and Las Vegas, and described its usage in California as “huge.”
“The shipping container is one of the strongest products you can possibly use,” said Brooks. “Once you get them all stacked, and insulated it’s almost like playing with Legos.”
If you build it help will come
Brooks credits organizations like the Cleveland Development Advisors (CDA) in nurturing WRJ’s growth as developers of color. “When we first started on this path, the biggest thing that we learned in the development space is that it’s a lot of upfront money that’s needed.”
William Willis, Senior Director of development services with the CDA, told The Land that as an organization they decided in 2009 that supporting emerging developers will be a part of their strategic plan and initiatives.
“So, fast forward to where we are today,” said Willis, “We began to cultivate relationships and get to know the emerging developers, particularly developers of color and underrepresented developers, so that we understand the impact that they’re attempting to make in the community.”
Willis told The Land that they have been working with WRJ for the last couple of years through various phases of their shipping container project, also known as “Arkitainer,” named after a company that provides modular and container architecture.
He said CDA has recently been able to provide capital for “soft cost” pre-development expenses such as engineering plans, soil samples, and permits as the partners seek to move forward toward securing loans and breaking ground. “We used this as an opportunity through our relationships to infuse capital investment into their project so that they can reach the next phase,” said Willis.
Willis said that one of the benefits of working with CDA is that they can provide access to social capital, as well, such as relationships with other industry professionals. “We try to help them become better connected to individuals or companies who are adjacent (to their work),” he said.
Brooks says connecting with mentors like Mitchell Schneider of First Place Interstate Properties has been invaluable.“To be able to have a conversation with [Schneider], and to have the opportunity to show him my project and get his advice on what I should and shouldn’t do is priceless,” he said.
He also points to architect Daniel Bickerstaff of Ubiquitous Design LTD, as not only designing their first project, but being there to “teach and mentor” them on how to present in front of city planning. “I think that was the key and the catalyst that helped us move along to our other successes. We were just going to show up, turn in an application, and tell the city planning board about our project, but [Bickerstaff] showed us the proper way to get it done and approved,” he said.
Willis says that CDA is always looking to work with new developers and figure out if there’s a way they can be of assistance. Learn more about the program here.
WRJ Developers look to have their apartments on E. 72nd Street completed in early 2025. To contact WRJ Developers, visit www.wrjdevelopers.com. For more information about Cleveland Development Advisors, email cda@greatercle.com or call (216) 592-2274.
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