Cherokee's Mission

Our ultimate goal is to perfect a sustainable business model that improves the lives of thousands of families ... by providing desirable, affordable housing, and job-creating commercial properties, salvaged from blighted buildings and institutionally charged-off mortgages.

Our firm exists to help create better lives for people, and to improve the economic and social circumstances of communities. We do this by reducing the number of distressed properties, and from them creating more and better residential and commercial opportunities.

To achieve these goals we must earn a fair profit that reasonably compensates our owners for the risk associated with these activities, allows us to compensate our employees fairly, and provides sufficient capital to enable us to grow our business and increase the number of people and communities we can help.

Our strategy is to focus on buildings in great distress, in geographic markets where we can do the most good, and situations where we can earn sufficient profits to further expand the number of people we can help.

The physical condition of neighborhoods has a serious impact on residents' quality of life, and on the perception of visitors to the community. This is one reason we believe that our property rehabilitation activities are as much a "community development" activity as they are economic.

We have perfected a business model that identifies very unproductive and depressed properties, and enables us to acquire a priority interest at a discount that reflects the risk and resources necessary to acquire title.

In terms of owning real estate, we concentrate in a few geographic markets where we understand the markets, and can create economies of scale.

We focus primarily on the renovation of existing properties, because this is often the most cost effective in terms of creating value, and expedient in terms of promoting community development.

We are committed to providing our commercial and residential tenants with a high quality product, providing safe, attractive, productive environments, and to manage these properties so as to be the landlord of choice for both existing and prospective clients.

We take on complex, technically challenging projects, leveraging the skills of our management team to successfully acquire, renovate and reposition properties that others may not have the capacity or resources to pursue.

The value of all properties are enhanced when the community prospers. It's the proverbial "rising tide" that "raises all boats". So our property renovations not only advance our financial goals, and our community development objectives, but also facilitate

We acquire "non-performing" assets where we believe our core competencies, focus, and patience will create the opportunity to significantly enhance the value of those assets, and in so doing enable us to further our mission.

Our becoming involved in distress "situations" leads to a resolution. There is usually a "controlling stakeholder" whose irresponsible actions, or inactions, created or facilitated the problems. However there are also many other stakeholders, who are innocent, and powerless to distance themselves from the distress, such as neighbors, lenders, family and business associates, etc. To learn how Cherokee rescues these innocent stakeholders, please download our information sheet entitled How Cherokee Rescues Innocent Stakeholders.

More information about Cherokee can be found at Checking Out Cherokee? You can also find and download our brochures to your own computer, so that you can print them, save them, or share them with others.

Cherokee operates in accordance with a Code of Ethics that reflects the personal and institutional moral and ethic guidelines of our people. This policy can be viewed on our Ethics web page.