Two Black Women Are Behind Affordable Housing Renaissance In Cleveland

Shelia Wright and Angela Thi Bennett are the driving forces behind a development group on a mission to create affordable housing opportunities for the Cleveland, Ohio, community. When they created Frontline Development Group, the goal has always been to advance real estate development that enhances wealth generation. According to Signal Cleveland , the co-owners and limited partners’ first major project was Gordon Crossing, a mixed-income apartment building housed on the city’s East 101st Street. Tenants first began moving into the establishment in 2026, a long time coming for the women invested in fostering better opportunities for the people in their community, starting with the basic need for housing. “We realized it wasn’t just about us,” said  Wright, Frontline president. Bennett serves as vice president and general counsel. Both women had similar experiences growing up on Cleveland’s East Side and in East Cleveland and went on to become successful MBA- and law-degree-holding women.  Launched in 2018, Frontline is among the only 0.40% of Black real estate developers in the United States. As an emerging developer in Cleveland, the company is an anomaly, especially given that Black East Side neighborhoods, including Central, Hough, and Fairfax, have suffered disinvestment for years. Black developers are a rarity, which is why Wright and Bennett take their mission very seriously. In addition to creating affordable housing for residents throughout the historic Blac…