NEO Success Awards 2014: Abode Modern Lifestyle Developers

Abode Modern Lifestyle Developers has built its business on eco-friendly living spaces.

Andrew Brickman spent $200 on a pair of hiking boots to climb Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano that rises 7,200 feet above the Rift Valley in northern Tanzania. The two young Maasai tribesmen he hired as guides, who fashioned pieces of bicycle tires to their feet with lengths of twine, didn’t look to be as prepared.

Life Lessons Andrew Brickman, managing member, Abode Modern Lifestyle Developers The more you give, the more you get. So I try to promote a culture where we try to make all of our vendors and our partners more successful. I strive for constructive criticism. I don’t want someone, whether they’re an employee of the company or whether they’re a customer, just to tell us how great everything is. I want them to tell us, “Well, most of what you’re doing is fantastic. But if you did this, this and this, it could be even better.” I’ve always been curious about how the aesthetics of a product also works with the functionality. So I’m always looking for great design, whether it be industrial design or whether it be architectural design. When you [see] those McMansions out in exurbia, you’ll see a little bit of fake stone on the front and then vinyl on three sides. To me, architecture is meant to be experienced in three dimensions – it is 3-D. They dumb it down by making it 2-D.

“When I was climbing, the sole of my boot came unglued because of all the sulfur in the rock,” Brickman explains. “At the same time, the rudimentary bicycle tire that was their shoes was functioning much better than the best and most expensive Western technology.”

It was during that trip more than a decade ago — and losing his sole on a volcano — that Brickman observed how adept the people in that African community were at recycling and how wasteful America was.

Brickman decided to start a real estate development company that built residential communities with as little waste and long-term environmental impact as possible.

Nine years after founding Abode Modern Lifestyle Developers, Brickman has seen revenue grow 142 percent over the last three years, from $1.75 million in 2011 to $4.25 million in 2013.

As the firm’s managing member, he credits Abode’s success to a growing demand among homebuyers for homes that are not only eco-friendly in construction and energy consumption but efficient in the use of square footage and the time required to maintain them.

The company’s four Cleveland-area communities include the Brownstones of Derbyshire, a 20-condominium development with units in and on the grounds of a former Cleveland Heights church, and 27 Coltman, 27 townhouses built on a former brownfield near University Circle and Little Italy.

“The spaces aren’t necessarily [that] big,” says Brickman. “But they’re bright, and they’re flexible, and they’re energy efficient. People feel good about that. It’s an easier
lifestyle.”

In addition to the eco-friendly features such as recycled exterior building materials, sustainable bamboo flooring and insulating rooftop gardens, homeowners are drawn to the ability to customize the layout of their homes to fit their needs — many are without any load-bearing interior walls, which allows for an open floor plan.

Technology also plays a major role in what Abode offers in its homes. Eleven River, a community of 11 luxury riverfront residences in Rocky River, is the first Abode property with geothermal heating and cooling. Control4 SmartHome technology, a home automation system, is also standard there and at Clifton Pointe, a Lakewood development of 22 luxury residences overlooking the Rocky River and Lake Erie.

“It allows a buyer to control their heating and air conditioning, their audio-visual, their lighting, their appliances, their security — all from their smartphone,” he explains.

The customization doesn’t end there. Clifton Pointe’s sold-out Phase II offered health-centric options such as air- and water-purification systems, circadian lighting and posture-supportive flooring. Eleven River buyers can add an elevator, dock or plunge pool. And those amenities are just what the developer offers. Residents have tricked out their digs with everything from spalike master baths to rooftop kitchens.

Brickman says another selling point of Abode communities is having homes in a neighborhood with built-in character — one where people can walk to shops, restaurants and recreation areas and actually interact with their neighbors in the process.

“We’ve gone into infill locations that have a little bit more soul, that are close to the amenities that people want today,” he says.

Since more than tripling its payroll in the last three years from 4 to 15 employees, most of whom work in marketing, design, architecture, construction management and administration, Abode is starting to expand beyond Cleveland. The most exotic is Kiela Villas, a trio of self-sustaining oceanfront rentals in a biosphere reserve near Tulum, Mexico, about two hours south of Cancun.

“They produce all their own power through wind and solar [technology], and capture all the rainwater,” says Brickman.

Closer to home, the company plans to break ground this spring on Riversouth Modern Ecohomes, a development of 36 townhouses situated along Cleveland Metroparks’ Rocky River Reservation, and will begin construction on a mixed-use Ohio City project late this year or in early 2015. Brickman is also looking at opportunities to build in the city of Beachwood, a suburb he believes is ripe for Abode-style development.

“We like to find an infill site that is close to parks and amenities and restaurants,” he says. “We found that type of location, and we think it’s consistent with Abode’s mission.”