Full Court Development is a fully integrated development and construction management firm based in the community and has been in operation since 2017. We provide real estate investment, development and construction management services. As of 2019, we are a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) fund entity. We are privileged to be working in such a dynamic, creative, entrepreneurial city and are committed to being a positive contributor to the City of Brotherly Love.
Our story begins in 2009 with two college freshmen on the University of Pennsylvania Men’s Basketball Team. Aron Cohen, Philadelphia, PA and Cameron Lewis, Washington, DC, little did they know their time at UPenn would turn into the formation of a successful integrated investment/development firm. Aron, after some time working in the Philadelphia Public School system, decided to team up with his brother Byran Cohen and give the rehab game a full go. From 2015 to 2016 Aron and Bryan were able to acquire, renovate and stabilize 44 single family homes in the city of Philadelphia.
In 2017, Aron reconnected with his old teammate, Cameron Lewis, who had been very successful on Wall Street. Together, they decided in order to scale the business to the next level, they added Jason Roche, to deliver on the promise of “rebuilding the community one brick at a time.” In 2019, Cameron Lewis’s brother Aaron Lewis joined to drive the vision for the QOZ fund. In addition to our partners and managers we are supported by an in – house construction and asset management team. We are a committed, successful group of professionals looking to grow with the community around us and deliver returns at every step of the development process.
We strive to be engaged in development projects across the entire City of Philadelphia, but West Philadelphia and Brewerytown are our keystone opportunity areas. We strive for in-fill, urban development providing the highest level of neighborhood density possible. Our projects provide quality homes at an affordable price-point and act as a catalyst for sustainable, neighborhood redevelopment. We aim to deliver a product that is the correct fit for the community as well as our partners whether they are institutions, individuals, investors, owners or tenants.
We got our start in two distinct Philadelphia neighborhoods, West Philadelphia and Brewerytown, that are experiencing rapid reinvestment as well as repopulation. Similar to most in-fill developers, we like to be in neighborhoods that have a strong home base, active cultural institutions and good access to public transit. Both neighborhoods have historic homes that are prime for redevelopment. West Philadelphia is home to world class universities and cultural institutions. Similarly, Brewerytown is a stone’s throw away from major art and education institutions, including the Art Museum District and the newly emerging 31st Street tech corridor, flanked by the co-working operator 1776Vc Philadelphia.
On May 2nd 2018, Forbes published an article titled, “How Fishtown, Philadelphia Became America’s Hottest New Neighborhood,” chronicling the unprecedented growth and revitalization of a once forgotten area of the city. The article continues to state, “Today, the El is held up by local politicians, developers, and the media as the foundation of Philadelphia’s new model for Transit Oriented Development. It’s also magnetizing a new generation of Millennials, Baby Boomers, and young professionals who are summarily rejecting suburbia, car culture, and food deserts in favor of independently-owned retailers, farm-to-table restaurants, and the new self-supporting micro-economy to move back downtown again.” We believe that these principles are universal across the city and can be integrated effortlessly into the foundation of existing neighborhoods. The old and the new, the young and the old, traditional and cutting edge can blend together seamlessly.
In addition, as of 2019, we are a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) entity that is looking to match capital with returns in traditionally underinvested neighborhoods/projects. We are fortunate enough to have already been active in what are now considered “Opportunity Zones” neighborhoods like West Philadelphia and Brewerytown. The QOZ provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains (via the sale of real estate, stock, a business, etc.) into real estate projects that meet certain criteria. The key is that the capital must be invested for 10 years in order to realize those gains and when it comes to “re-emerging” neighborhoods patience is essential. More directly, because there is the attractive tax benefit, the investor can earn a lower return on their investment than they would typically require without the QOZ status.
“We get up each day with a desire to deliver the best for our communities and the stakeholders we serve.”