Cleveland serial entrepreneur Brent Zimmerman has joined forces with Rhove, the “Robinhood of real estate,” to offer fractional ownership of The Washington, a recently renovated historic lodging property in Sandusky, Ohio.
Rhove Real Estate 1 LLC has created its Rhove app to enable people to invest as little as $1 in tourism and other commercial real estate in their communities, the Columbus, Ohio-based company said in a statement.
A company controlled by Zimmerman, best known for founding Saucy Brew Works, the craft beer brewer and distributor in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood, owns the Sandusky lodging property, according to Erie County and state documents.
“Whether it is a multifamily rental property or a craft brewery, we are passionate about building spaces where community happens,” Zimmerman said in Rhove’s statement.
Because Zimmerman’s development company already owns The Washington, “partnering with Rhove is truly about the social benefits of community ownership,” Zimmerman said.
Typically, commercial real estate developers raise financing from investors who are certified as being wealthy. Even crowdfunding — which Zimmerman has used twice to raise money to launch and expand Saucy Brew Works — usually requires a minimum investment of thousands of dollars.
“These are properties that generate income,” Rhove co-founder and CEO Calvin Cooper told Columbus Business First, Cleveland Business Journal’s sister publication in Columbus. “It’s one of the least accessible ways to create wealth.”
Rhove enables investors to make much smaller investments in commercial real estate and plans to enable guests of The Washington to invest in that lodging property, as well, the app company said.
Airriva LLC, a Columbus-based company that owns, operates and manages multifamily buildings, boutique hotels and vacation rentals, will manage The Washington, which offers eight one-bedroom units and one four-bedroom unit, Rhove said.
Built in 1890, the 7,200-square-foot property recently was renovated at a cost of $2.4 million “to preserve its historic charm while adding modern amenities,” Rhove said.
Sandusky is home to Cedar Point amusement park and at least two water parks, as well as jumping-off points for ferries to the Lake Erie Islands.
With a background in investment, Zimmerman founded Brent Zimmerman Development LLC in 2015 and has invested more than $100 million to redevelop commercial real estate in Ohio, Rhove said.
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