Amid all the large, often corporate-backed efforts to rebuild East Lake Street after civil unrest three years ago, Abe Demmaj has been quietly working in the background. In late 2020, Grass Roots Developers, his commercial real estate development firm, opened the Abyssinia Cultural Center on Lake, a three-story mixed-use development that’s now home to several businesses that had been displaced during protests and property destruction. Looking into 2024, Demmaj is squarely focused on building the Unity project, a similar Lake Street development that will have space for up to 90 tenants. “We are hoping to build more in the corridor,” he says, “and bring it back.”

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