Jon Grabowski

CEO at Red Cedar Homes

Speaker

Jon Grabowski began his residential real estate career in 2004 as a multifamily developer in the Midwest, specializing in adaptive reuse and condominium conversion projects. His early work included the notable renovation of the historic Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan.

During the Global Financial Crisis, under Jon’s leadership, the company expanded into the Southeast and focused on distressed property acquisitions. From 2009 to 2014, Jon purchased, renovated, and sold more than 2,100 distressed single-family homes to institutional SFR buyers and built 1,800 new homes on developed lots acquired through liquidated note pools. He stayed ahead of industry trends, leading strategic expansion into Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia while developing an innovative new-construction model for “Build-to-Rent.”

As the Founder and CEO of Red Cedar Capital Partners, LLC, Jon relocated to Charlotte, NC, in 2014 to oversee the company’s growing homebuilding and land development operations. He remains the firm’s largest equity investor. Today, Red Cedar develops residential land across the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida, and is on track to build 1,200 homes in 2025 across both for-sale and Build-to-Rent categories. Red Cedar’s platform includes general contracting services for Build-to-Rent, commercial multifamily, site work, and for-sale housing, with ownership stakes in affiliated businesses such as Red Cedar Homes (homebuilding) and Evergreen and Maker (building supply). Over the next five years, Red Cedar aims to expand its role as a preferred builder and developer for capital in the Build-to-Rent space while growing Red Cedar Homes into a Builder 100 business.