This developer has created hundreds of housing units. His favorite part is seeing the impact
State Ave. Lofts
By the end of the year, low-income renters, some making as little as $47,000, will be able to move into apartments in two newly renovated Lower Price Hill historic buildings.
Cincinnati and Hamilton County leaders are celebrating the addition of a dozen apartments on State Avenue along with nonprofit housing agencies who acknowledge the county is short 31,200 units for extremely low-income families.
In 2024 Kaiker Development + Construction broke ground on the State Ave Lofts, bringing $580,000 to the project, an event captured in this Instagram post. Partnerships are critical to the success of these housing developments. Cincinnati contributed $580,000. Hamilton County used $720,000 in ARPA funds. Ohio is financing $500,000 in historic tax credits. The Port and the Cincinnati Development Fund are also involved in the project.
In an interview with Brick by Brick, Principal Kai Lewars says of all his recent projects, the State Ave Lofts mean the most. “I used to live adjacent to that property and I think it was a community that was very much overlooked and is still overlooked in certain capacities, and I hope being on the main road of State Ave. that it sheds some beauty on Lower Price Hill.”
At the groundbreaking Lewars conveyed, “This isn’t for me. This is for generations to come.” For Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece, it is developments like this that are “changing the trajectory of a neighborhood, a community and a culture.”
More infill housing
Lewars has no idea how many available vacant lots are in Cincinnati, but he assumes there are thousands. It’s lots like these the city is encouraging developers to build “missing middle” housing as part of the Connected Communities zoning changes. Middle housing includes duplexes, triplexes, rowhouses and more.
Brick by Brick visited townhomes Kaiker built in Avondale:
Kaiker says he leads with a “focus in community development and utilizes those relationships to create those land opportunities”. By doing this he has been able to “add value to a multitude of communities in need that have vacant parcels that you would like to see them come to life.”
Kaiker is one of the Business Courier’s Fast 55 award winners for 2024. The newspaper reports his company’s revenue grew 815-percent between 2021 and 2023.
Commercial development
The company is finishing up The Port’s new office in Atrium II and a break room build out for Metro bus.
There are a lot of steps from start to finish. Here’s a video of Lewars and Kaiker Development doing a walkthrough at Metro.
Lewars on a thriving community
Brick by Brick asked Lewars what makes a thriving community. He says, “For me it’s really about safety and a melting pot of people coming together, supporting one another, making their community the best community that they can imagine.”
And, “A melting pot is not just about the color of our skin but our culture, our careers, our backgrounds, our family. Having that diversity and that inclusion to grow together as a community.”
The impact on people
As Kaiker Development + Construction continues to become a bigger player, Lewars is not forgetting his roots. He loves seeing people revitalize blighted properties and as a kid he dreamed of doing it someday. “I actually tell people it’s big boy Legos. But at the end of the day Legos come with instructions. You kind of got to know what part, what piece, and get familiar. But once you know how to read it, it’s all the same,” he says.
“For me, my favorite part of the home building process is probably seeing the impact it makes in people’s lives, seeing that impact of somebody having keys to their home that will cover their basis of living, not only for them but other generations in regards to just having something that they can call theirs.”
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Ann Thompson – Host, Producer
Over the last thirty years in Cincinnati, Ann Thompson has brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting. She has reported and anchored for WVXU, WKRC, WCKY, WHIO-TV and Metro Networks and freelanced for NPR, CBS and ABC Radio. Her work has been recognized by the Associated Press and she has won awards from the Association of Women in Communications and the Alliance for Women in Media. She is a former News Director and Operations Manager. Ann has reported from India, Japan, South Korea, Germany and Belgium as part of fellowships. Ann thinks of the Brick by Brick project as “journalism for good.” She serves as host and producer. Ann lives in Anderson Township with her husband Scott. They have two boys. Jake graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2022 and Kurt attends West Point.
