By: Jasmine West
Access to capital has long been one of the hardest doors to open for emerging developers in Detroit.
URGE Group says its acquisition of EBIARA Fund I is about widening that doorway and giving more developers rooted in the city a stronger shot at building projects that shape neighborhood growth.
URGE announced that it has acquired ownership of EBIARA Fund I, formally bringing the investment platform into the URGE family of companies. The move marks a new chapter for a fund created to help emerging development firms secure early-stage capital and strategic support, two resources that have often remained out of reach for smaller firms trying to get projects off the ground.
Launched June 19, 2022, EBIARA Fund I was formed through a partnership between Invest Detroit and URGE with initial funding support from The Kresge Foundation. The platform was built to address a persistent problem in real estate development: talented emerging developers may have the vision and community connection to lead projects, but many do not have the capital stack or institutional backing needed to compete at scale.
“This moment represents the next step in what was always envisioned as a long-term platform,” said Roderick A. Hardamon, founder and CEO of URGE and co-founder and managing director of the EBIARA Fund. “EBIARA was built on the idea that talented emerging developers already exist within our communities, but what they often lack is access to capital and institutional support. Our goal has always been to build a platform that not only funds projects but helps grow the firms behind them so they can play a sustained role in shaping Detroit’s future.”
That point matters in a city where neighborhood development conversations often focus on major deals, large institutions, and established firms while smaller developers, many of them developers of color, continue fighting for the financial tools needed to move from concept to construction. EBIARA was designed to help close that gap.
Since its launch, projects backed by EBIARA Fund I portfolio companies have helped stimulate more than $240 million in development activity across Detroit neighborhoods, according to the announcement. That figure reflects more than investment volume. It also signals the scale of opportunity that can emerge when early capital and operational support reach firms that have historically had limited access to both.
With the acquisition, URGE said it will fully integrate the EBIARA platform into its broader advisory, development, and investment ecosystem. The company says that structure will allow the platform to scale more efficiently and strengthen its long-term impact.
The transition also keeps key institutional partners connected to the work.
“When Invest Detroit, URGE Imprint, and The Kresge Foundation came together to launch EBIARA, we shared a conviction that minority-owned real estate developers had the talent and drive to scale; they simply needed the right capital and infrastructure to do it,” said Keona Cowan, EVP Lending, Invest Detroit. “We’ve watched that conviction become reality, and we are proud to see EBIARA expand its mission to a national stage.”
That expansion matters because the platform is not only being framed as a Detroit success story, but also as a model that could be applied in other markets. For Detroit, that creates a different kind of significance. A city that has spent years debating equitable development now has a homegrown platform that its backers believe can travel beyond city limits.
The Kresge Foundation, one of the institutional supporters that helped launch the fund, is also staying committed to the platform as it enters this next phase.
“Our continued partnership reflects confidence in the EBIARA model and its ability to expand equitable access to development opportunities,” said Tosha Tabron, Director of Originations at The Kresge Foundation. “The platform has demonstrated how capital, expertise and intentional partnership can support the growth of emerging developers while strengthening neighborhoods across Detroit.”
Development has often raised hard questions in this city about who gets financed, who gets taken seriously, and who gets to shape what neighborhoods become. For emerging developers trying to build in communities they know firsthand, access to capital can determine whether a project remains a plan on paper or becomes something residents can actually see, use, and benefit from.
Developers working with EBIARA say the platform has already made that difference visible.
“With the support of EBIARA, we’ve been able to move projects from concept to completion in a way that creates real impact in our communities,” said Sauda Ahmad-Green of S&S Development. “Our recent ribbon cutting of Merril Place II is a clear example of what’s possible when emerging developers have access to the right capital and partnership.”
That testimony speaks to the broader value of the platform. EBIARA was not created only to fund individual deals. It was created to help grow the firms behind those deals, giving emerging developers a better chance to build track records, expand capacity, and stay active in a development economy that too often rewards existing access over local insight.
URGE said the acquisition comes as it prepares for the next phase of growth for the EBIARA platform, including continued development of the second series of the fund. That next phase will support a growing pipeline of development opportunities and expand the model into new markets around the country.
For Detroit, the announcement lands at a time when equitable development remains a pressing issue. Residents continue to watch how money moves, where projects rise, and whether neighborhood investment truly includes the people and firms with roots in the communities being redeveloped. Platforms like EBIARA are drawing attention because they attempt to shift that equation by pairing capital with strategic support and long-term firm-building.
URGE’s acquisition of EBIARA Fund I puts that platform fully under one roof. The larger test will be whether that structure can continue delivering on the promise that helped launch the fund in the first place: giving emerging developers the backing needed not only to complete projects, but to hold a lasting stake in Detroit’s future.
