Childhood friends, now business partners building communities and empowering lives through real estate development

By Donald James

The name Woodborn, according to Brown, was established because every street in the Historic Old West End neighborhood in Toledo ended in wood, i.e., Scottwood, Robinwood, Parkwood, Collingwood, etc.

“Woodborn is a constant reminder of where we come from and what we are striving to accomplish,” said Brown. “Chris and I believe if we can build lives and focus on the development of communities while remaining disciplined and understanding the core fundamentals of the business, wealth will come.”

The business partners, under the Woodborn Partners banner, are currently involved in numerous real estate projects in downtown Detroit, Midtown, along the Riverfront, and in five other neighborhoods in the Motor City.

Woodborn’s first project was The Scott at Brush Park. The $63 million project, completed in partnership with Broder Sachse Real Estate Services, Inc., is located just north of downtown Detroit. The Scott at Brush Park is a 199-unit mixed-use development that features studios and one, two and three bedroom apartments, complete with a 326-vehicle parking garage. There is also 15,000 square-feet of retail space.

The company is also proud of its work on The Coe at West Village,

located at 1462 Van Dyke on the city’s east side. Brown describes the relatively new development as a 12-unit mixed use/mixed-income development consisting of studios and one and two bedroom apartments and townhomes. The development also includes more than 1,200-square feet of retail space.

Among the other real estate development projects that Woodborn is currently working on, Pullman Parc stands out. It is a distinctive residential community development in the surrounds of Lafayette Park, just east of downtown Detroit. When completed in early 2021, Pullman Parc will feature 81 townhomes, Parc homes and corner flats, as well as the Renato at Pullman Parc, which will consist of 180 refined apartments.

“Our goal is to develop more than just buildings,” said Brown. “We want to build lives by creating environments of success. We seek to provide urban communities with a superior level of planned development through a holistic approach to working with all stakeholders to improve neighborhoods and ensuring that all parties’ needs are met.”

Empowering urban communities and its people is the common thread that has been woven through the minds and actions of Brown and Earley, stemming from their childhood days in Toledo. And even though both young friends had dreams of one day building communities and empowering people, their paths of how to get there went separate ways before reuniting to form a real estate development company.

Brown went to The Ohio State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA, with concentrations in corporate & investment finance and real estate & marketing strategy. Professionally, he has amassed more than twenty years in real estate, corporate and investment, and finance and banking.

Earley’s post-Toledo days led to him earning a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance from Morehouse College. He subsequently received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, with a focus in finance & real estate. His professional portfolio contains more than twenty-two years of real estate experience in both the public and private sectors.

With vast professional and educational experiences between the two friends, Brown and Earley are a formidable real estate development team, rooted in the common desire to help empower inner-city neighborhoods and the residents who reside there. Yet, both men understand that their roles are to enhance what’s already there.

“We want to be involved in transformational real estate,” Brown said. “Our goal is to be the national leader in transformative urban real estate projects by 2030.” Brown adds.

“We are not Christopher Columbus; we’re not discovering anything new,” he says. “What we are discovering are these amazing neighborhoods and these amazing people with these amazing stories. All we are trying to be are good partners in empowering them through real estate development.”

To learn more about Woodborn Partners’ real estate development projects, log on to www.woodbornpartners.com.