Progressive Urban Real Estate does more than help buyers and sellers navigate real estate transactions. They don't just market homes; they promote the entire lifestyle of urban living. 

Like Delta Media Group®, Progressive Urban Real Estate believes in the power of progress. They recognize that progress and innovation are what keep businesses and cities thriving. 

Bringing Buyers to Cleveland

Emerging as a means to promote the city of Cleveland, Progressive Urban Real Estate was founded in 1986. Since its founding, the independently-owned brokerage, currently under the leadership of President and Broker David Sharkey, has advocated for the city's revitalization, forming relationships with community organizations and local government. They have also effectively lobbied financial institutions to offer loans to lower-income residents and fund redevelopment projects. 

When addressing the motivation behind the establishment of Progressive Urban Real Estate in Cleveland, David Sharkey says, "The rest of the real estate world had forgotten some of the inner-city neighborhoods. We saw a lot of value in these neighborhoods, even though if you were driving through them, you might say, oh, this is not very nice, and they look maybe devastated. But we saw the value. Artists were living down here. You had people who had lived in the neighborhood for generations, but other things started falling apart. We saw the value. We thought people would want to move here, so we promoted the city."

Progressive Urban Real Estate continues to play a prominent part in the city's revitalization by assisting local real estate developers with everything from feasibility analysis to coordinating projects, leading design, and marketing new construction homes and condominium conversions. In fact, the brokerage has captured a large portion of the market share of new construction homes, condominium conversions, and existing homes in downtown Cleveland and the First Suburbs. 

Although their primary goal of promoting the city of Cleveland has remained the same, a lot has changed in the more than 30 years since the inception of Progressive Urban Real Estate. One difference is where buyers are coming from. 

"We've always focused on being an urban brokerage and promoting the city of Cleveland," says Sharkey. "And over time, things have changed in the sense that our buyers have changed. You used to only have buyers coming from inner suburbs, like Lakewood or Cleveland Heights, and places like that. As the neighborhoods have evolved and changed and improved, we get buyers from all over the place. There isn't one place they come from. They come from all over the place."

Advocating For Historical Preservation

Today, much of the development they advocate for at Progressive Urban Real Estate includes new construction on existing lots in the city. However, they feel strongly about building homes that blend in with historic ones.

"When we started, we were talking about fixing up old homes, but there's also a lot of vacant lots," says Sharkey. "So we advocated for new construction that fits in with the fabric down here. So, not building something you'd see in a modern suburb today, but a house that's going to fit on a traditional lot in these neighborhoods where the houses have the same proportion as what's next door. Because if you start building stuff that's out of proportion to the existing housing stock, that historical housing stock starts to look out of place, and things don't match up, giving it a weird feeling. When you keep things in a similar size, you get that continuity, and things blend in better."

Sharkey shares that one of the reasons they feel so strongly about preserving the city of Cleveland is because of its history. 

"I think history is important," he says. "And when you drive through these neighborhoods, you see the historical homes, you see the historical buildings, the way the neighborhoods function. You've got retail on the sidewalk. You've got people walking up and down the street. And if anyone's familiar with Cleveland and the neighborhoods of Tremont, Ohio City, Detroit Shoreway, and even University Circle, you have a lot of action on the street. People draw other people, and it's contagious. And people go and are like, 'Oh, there's this energy here,' and they want to be part of it. With all new construction or ripping everything down, that just doesn't work. You need that historical character to provide that feeling that you're someplace special."

Finding a Tech Partner Who Knows the Industry

Since marketing is such an integral part of the work they do at Progressive Urban Real Estate, the brokerage has always aimed to use the most innovative real estate marketing technology solution they could find. With a remarkable mission of promoting and preserving the city they serve, they wanted to work with a technology provider who held extensive knowledge of the real estate industry and understood what they needed to succeed in the business. Sharkey says they found these qualities in Delta Media Group. 

"For a long time, we were just lost searching for that right partner and reinventing the wheel," he mentions. "Delta came with real estate knowledge. I mean, they focus on real estate. That's what we needed as a real estate brokerage."

Sharkey feels that Delta's CRM and custom websites comprise a complete package, combining all the tools and features they could need to generate leads, market new listings, and serve their clients. 

"The lead generation and the CRM are great," he says. "Delta works with the multiple listing service, so everyone's listings are imported. Our site has everyone's listings on it. In the search, you can search by map, you can search by zip code, and you can search by address. When you combine all those things, Delta had the best package for us."

Another benefit of working with Delta that Sharkey loves most is the ability to design his web pages and easily make adjustments as he pleases. 

"The flexibility is what I love, that we can create our own web pages and edit them," says Sharkey. "We are constantly adding and subtracting things. I think with so many companies, you have to put in a request, and you have to wait for your site to adjust. But I can do it myself. I can have somebody else do it to showcase maybe a new construction project or our neighborhoods. If I need to do it, I can do it right now."

Having the opportunity to update their site on their own allows them to better market the city and their properties by displaying the latest information. This also enables them to provide more value for their customers, which sets them apart from their competitors. 

"We can go in and have up-to-date information that has floor plans, that has specifications, all that stuff," Sharkey explains. "And it's right there, and you can pull it up. And we generally have more information out there than anybody else has for their projects. And again, if things change, we can quickly change. The customer always has the up-to-date information on the web when they need it."

Sharkey believes staying in touch and offering information without overwhelming clients is the best way for agents to market themselves. That's why he finds tools like automated newsletters and email drip campaigns, which Delta Provides through the DeltaNET®, to be some of the most valuable. 

"What you need to do is go through your database and in a non-intrusive way, get people to know what you're doing through drip campaigns, things like that," he advises.

Staying Small For Individual Support

A major advantage of Progressive Urban Real Estate being a smaller brokerage is that Sharkey can provide one-on-one technology training and support for each agent whenever they need it. This is especially important given that agents are all at different levels of technology proficiency and have varying levels of interest in learning and engaging with new tools.

"I do one-on-one training with everyone," says Sharkey. "I like to work with them one-on-one to develop their skills, dig deeper into the system, and figure out what we can do to get them to a place where they're comfortable with the marketing tools."

Although he steadily brings in new talent, Sharkey prefers to keep his team smaller so that he can spend more time training and working with each agent individually. He feels that this ensures no one gets lost or left behind and everyone can adhere to the ethical framework the brokerage was founded on.

"I like slow growth," he remarks. "I'm a very involved president and broker, so if an agent's got a problem, they're calling me, and I want them to call me. I don't want anybody to be lost. So I like to pick up a few agents as we go along and work with new agents so that they get training from me from the very start and meet our ethical goals as a company."

Revitalizing Their Storefront

Along with continuing to leverage technology to connect with customers and promote the great city of Cleveland, Progressive Urban Real Estate has another exciting project they plan to take on this year.

Sharkey says that in 2024, the brokerage plans to renovate their office building on Detroit Avenue in Ohio City. Since opening this location in 1999, like much of the neighborhood, the area has seen much growth and improvement. Being advocates for progress and revitalization, they do their best to keep up as things change. 

"There's a lot of growth around us," he notes. "For years and years, our building was the nicest one on the street. Things have changed. So now we're thinking about doing some exterior fix-ups on the building and taking it up another notch. As the neighborhood has improved, I think it is time for us to look at our physical presence and maybe improve that a little bit."

Bridging the Gap Between Tradition and Modernity

As you can see, from advocating for the city's revitalization and historical preservation to using innovative marketing technology through their partnership with Delta Media Group, Progressive Urban Real Estate has been at the forefront of progress, bridging the gap between tradition and modernity. They remain focused on preserving the past while embracing the future. 

Progressive Urban Real Estate not only markets homes but also urban life in Cleveland. Embarking on their latest project of renovating their office to better reflect the city's improvements, they continue to embody the spirit of rejuvenation that defines both their business and the vibrant city they passionately promote.

To learn more about Progressive Urban Real Estate, visit www.progressiveurban.com.