The Fischer Group—parent company of home builder Fischer Homes, No. 32 on the 2024 Builder 100—has created Acendion Capital & Development, a development and investment company focused on creating multifamily and mixed-used communities. The company will collaborate with individual investors to “create high-quality developments in high-demand neighborhoods.”
David Spaulding, a construction industry veteran with previous experience at Turner Construction and Lithko Contracting, will serve as the president of Acendion. Spaulding tells BUILDER that the decision to launch Acendion Capital & Development was based on a recognition of the need for housing beyond traditional single-family homes.
“Looking at the market and the need for all kinds of different homes, the timing was right—it felt right—and there were a couple of opportunities that we’ve got in the pipeline as [Fischer Homes chairman Greg Fischer, Fischer Homes CEO Tim McMahon, and I] were talking it through,” Spaulding says.
Acendion Capital & Development has three communities with more than 1,000 apartments in development in the next year in the greater Cincinnati metro market. Spaulding says the product mix for these projects will be a blend of suburban, garden-style units and urban infill.
“In [the] communities that we are launching, those are communities that Fischer Homes is already a part of. The plan is to expand the geographic footprint [of Acendion], probably in markets where Fischer Homes operates,” Spaulding says. “We will launch into other cities as well. I think we can offer something unique when it comes to speed, scale, and efficiency when it comes to our growth plan and the way we work alongside Fischer Homes.”
Spaulding says future projects may include opportunities outside Fischer Homes communities, including stand-alone apartment developments.
According to Spaulding, The Fischer Group’s familiarity with the Cincinnati metro and the strong housing demand made the market attractive for Acendion Capital & Development’s maiden projects.
“The Midwest is in a great place from the standpoint of affordability. But also, market demographics have changed toward people wanting to live in apartments with nice amenities and views close to retail and the city,” Spaulding says. “I think we can offer that in the market.
“There are a lot of people that either don’t want to put the down payment down or [are priced out by] interest rates or just want the flexibility of one or two years in a rental,” Spaulding continues. “Now it’s just another product we can offer. In history, maybe people were jaded about saying they were renting an apartment. I think that has gone away tremendously.”
Spaulding says creating a great place to work for associates will be just as important as creating great places for customers to live at Acendion Capital & Development.
“I’ve been lucky that the places I’ve worked before and coming into The Fischer Group, realizing that as much as they focus on their clients and the people they are building homes for, they focus on the people that work there,” Spaulding says. “It’s a mantra of mine. I don’t want to just have an offer to the public as a product, I want this to be the place where people want to work. When we talk about creating exceptional experiences, I want that to be for the people who work here as well.”
Spaulding says while Acendion Capital & Development has “an upper hand” with its access to shared services and “best-in-class” employees through The Fischer Group, the company is looking to scale up with external hires as well.
As it eyes future growth, Spaulding says both the market and investors will determine pace and scale to ensure Acendion Capital & Development is not working to “bring something to the market that isn’t needed.”
“These projects will be a great place for outside investors, and we have to bring them to a place where they make commercial sense,” Spaulding says. “Where those two things align will push our growth and scale.”
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