Q&A with Chase L. Cantrell, Executive Director of Building Community Value

People tend to throw around the word “changemaker” a lot these days, but there are few terms more accurate to describe Chase L. Cantrell. A born and bred Detroiter, Chase has dedicated his career to serving the community he calls home.

We had the chance to catch up with Chase and talk about his time at Dykema, his current role as Executive Director of Building Community Value (BCV), and his aspirations for shaping the future of his city.

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You started at Dykema in 2008 as an associate in our Corporate and Finance group, but I understand you also able to work with our Real Estate group as well? Quite an interesting time to get into real estate.

September 2008, to be exact…right when the crash hit. A little worrisome for new associates. We saw our peers in Chicago L.A. and New York getting laid off, so in Detroit, we didn't really know what was going to happen. But unlike them, Dykema retained its talent. My experience at this firm was invaluable to lead me to where I am today.

So real estate has been a lifelong passion of yours?

Quite the opposite. I only started understanding this industry when I was at Dykema. It wasn't something that came intuitively, and I sure didn't learn about it in law school. So when I talk to law students nowadays, I tell them that so much of their “education” will happen on the job.

Tell us a little more about your role today.

In 2016, I started an organization called Building Community Value, which is essentially a response to the aspirations of my fellow Detroiters. Folks who live in neighborhoods who want to see rehabilitation in their neighborhoods where there might be vacancies—we take them through the process of what it means to be a real estate developer.

When I started BCV I honestly didn’t know what it was going to be. It was a very unique market at the time. The folks who are getting access to funding and subsidies and legal services were folks who already had those resources, not the Detroiters in neighborhoods that I knew. So I thought, “How can I take what I've learned, those years at Dykema, and give those tools back to people?”

And how exactly did those years prepare you for your role today?

Part of it is teaching about law and finance. I’m very actively educating people on the closing process, how to interact with the law, and determining the size and scale of your project. As a developer in a depressed market, we’re using subsidies, tax credits, tax abatements, and all kinds of things that I had to do at Dykema. So now I'm able to review these documents and negotiate with the city myself, but still helping people understand what it means to find a good real estate attorney and not just any lawyer off the street.

Pretend I’m a first year associate. It’s my first day. What advice would you give me?

Cast your net as wide as you can. Regardless of what group you’re in, try to get as many touchpoints with other practice groups as possible. It will give you a much broader understanding of how the firm functions, the dynamic, and how partners interact with each other.

Building Community Value is a nonprofit dedicated to implementing and facilitating real estate development projects in underserved Detroit neighborhoods, providing residents with greater access to local business offerings that reflect their needs.

Chase also lectures at the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, and will be a candidate for the 2025 mayoral race in the City of Detroit. Learn more about Chase at chasecantrell.com.

This conversation is part of an ongoing series. If you’re a Dykema alum and have an interesting story, we want to hear from you. Please email alumni@dykema.com.