Today we’d like to introduce you to Darvel Desroches and Robbin Frey.
Darvel, Robbin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We are first and foremost a partnership of two individuals who wanted to make a difference in our community, have some fun and make some money all in one. In 2014 we were “set up” on a business meet and greet by another individual who thought our skill sets were complimentary and personalities matched such that we could work together and make a difference.
After the first meeting at which we discovered that we were both attorneys and real estate professionals who were truly passionate about community development, we immediately hit it off and decided to pool resources and form the entity to bring our vision to reality. Through sheer will, hard work and some good fortune, we have managed to redevelop assets from Morgan Park to North Center, while always remaining faithful to the company’s mantra of doing good through development.
For example, we recently completed a 4-unit condominium conversion of a building that might have fallen into foreclosure had we not step in and assisted the owner. We turned that asset from a severely undervalued building into a project that uplifted the area by bringing sorely needed housing in an area of the City that has a dearth of housing.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been easy at all. Despite all of our credentials and professional qualifications, we are a minority and female-headed business in a very capital intensive and traditional industry. Our initial lack of capital made it difficult to get in the door on some projects in the beginning. Yet, we’ve used our non-traditional backgrounds to forge relationships and alliances with community groups, stakeholders and even some populations who had been largely ignored and yearned for positive attention.
We had to start from the bottom, as they say. Thus, we’ve done difficult deals and have managed to make those deals profitable AND uplift the communities in which they’re located. Despite our initial capital issues we’ve used our skills sets and professional background to build the company with no outside seed capital by adhering to the business maxim of good things will come to those who listen to, respect and pay special attention to their clients/communities.
Please tell us about Ikenga Development Group.
Ikenga Development Group is a vertically integrated real estate services company that provides brokerage, development, construction, and asset management services for private investors and owners. The company works with private investment groups and owners to identify distressed or undervalued assets, create redevelopment plans that take into consideration neighborhood needs and characteristics, and brings that plan into fruition within a prescribed period of time–generally less than 10 months.
We work closely with the local stakeholders such as aldermen, community groups and employ local skilled tradesman to complete the project. We generally work on buildings of between 3-10 units and thus have good opportunities to add to the City’s housing stock in a positive manner and at price points that ensure regular residents have access to good housing. Our 3-year goal is to build enough scale so that we could work as a development partner with the City of Chicago and surrounding communities to bring much-needed housing.
Darvel Desroches is the managing partner and oversees the business affairs of the company; Robbin Frey oversees design. We are specialist in difficult transactions, specifically distressed or undervalued buildings. We are known for our one-stop approach whereby we are responsible for all aspects of the redevelopment from design to sale/management. The holistic approach sets us apart from competitors.
In fact, the only competitors we have are much larger and generally do not participate in our transaction price points. Thus, we can largely target a clientele which is not used receiving professional services of this magnitude. More importantly, we are known for the quality of our construction and our attention to detail.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Our backgrounds are different yet have some commonalities in that we both come from humble beginnings, faced adversity and have managed to overcome those challenges to graduate from law school and become real estate and business professionals with track records of success. For example, Robbin grew up on Air Force bases for much of her early childhood and her family moved around quite a bit before settling in Central Pennsylvania. Darvel is an immigrant from Haiti who grew up in public housing in Boston, Massachusetts. However, both had very supportive families which helped them excel and become who they are today.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2200 N. Damen Chicago IL 60647
- Website: www.ikengadevelopmentgroup.com
- Phone: 312-448-7901 X1
- Email: ddesroches@ikengadevelopmentgroup.com
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