He hated it here, and he couldn’t wait to leave.
When he was graduated from The Linsly School in 2005, that is exactly what Jeffrey Morris did.
He had no plans to return, so why did he? What led Morris to begin Roxby Development to buy the Mount Carmel Monastery in Woodsdale and set forth on an ambitious renovation and preservation project to open a boutique hotel? And why has Roxby purchased the Scottish Rite Cathedral in East Wheeling, the Overlook Museum on Grandview Street, and the 12th Street Garage?
In other words, why Wheeling?
“Why not Wheeling? That’s my answer,” Morris said. “I grew up here in the Upper Ohio Valley, and I hated the place. I could not wait to leave, and that’s exactly what I did a few weeks after I was graduated from Linsly. I got a got a one-way ticket to Germany on a scholarship, and I moved and didn’t think I would ever look back.
“And I didn’t come back until last February when we bought the Mount Carmel Monastery, and I really thought it would be temporary,” he explained. “I thought I would do that project for two years, and then I would move on and do another hotel somewhere else. But that’s when I fell in love. I realized the potential of Wheeling. I guess I had to leave and come back to really appreciate it, and I did.”
Morris is planner. That’s what he does. He’s made a career of it, in fact. But he did not plan to come home and stay home.
“The people here are good people, and doing business here is straight forward as long as you are upfront with people; it’s appreciated, and people can see that,” Morris said. “There is a draw here in Wheeling, and it’s for a lot of reasons. I have always loved the architecture here, and it’s something I connected with at a very young age, but it’s much more than that.
“I also love being close to my family again. I haven’t had that for the past 15 years, but it feels like home again, and I didn’t know that was even possible,” he said. “When I came home, it didn’t take too long for me to realize I was the happiest I’ve been in my entire life. That’s when I started to come up with a lot of different ideas as far as what I believe Roxby could make happen here.”
Observe and Learn
After he attended New York University, Morris has been involved with a plethora of business development ventures as well as real estate projects abroad and in the Pittsburgh area, and he has learned how to recognize opportunity.
That is exactly what he sees in the city of Wheeling right now.
“I have been in areas when people there were right in the middle of the progress that was taking place, so that’s when I started to think about how that movement got started. One thing that was consistent was that the people had to try over and over again to get things started. That’s what it took, and they didn’t quit,” Morris explained. “If you recognize where there is room for improvement and you go after it, other people are going to join. That’s when I started pitching my ideas.
“I have spoken with a lot of people for more than a year now, and it has gained momentum despite the pandemic,” he continued. “The one thing that was missing, though, was a large amount of investment, and I’m not someone who was handed $10 million by my parents so I could chase whatever I wanted. But I was handed a lifetime of experience and learned some real hard-knock lessons, so that is how I was able to attract a lot of investors who believe in the vision so we could get things started.”
Hence, the birth of Roxby Development.
“The company was founded at the beginning of last year right before Covid, and it’s a group of accomplished people who really believe in this place,” Morris said. “Instead of the ‘I’ mentality, we got together and decided to take a ‘We’ mentality, so we have funneled our resources, our drives, and our passions, and everyone is the captain of their own divisional ship.
“We will bring others in, too, who have similar passions so that they can follow what they want to do,” he said. “Roxby will get those individuals the things they need, and then they will be able to have at it.”
Strike That Hot Iron
He’s not finished.
In fact, Morris insisted a big announcement is forthcoming. His only hint?
“It will transform the heart of downtown Wheeling.”
That’s it, and with the number of vacant storefronts along Main and Market streets, it is hard to pin it down.
“We started with the Monastery and that project is what drove this whole idea. That building drove me to have the confidence, and it led to the purchase of the Scottish Rite Building in East Wheeling,” Morris said. “That brought me to East Wheeling, and Grow Ohio Valley is something of the heart of the neighborhood. That’s why I have become good friends with Danny Swann, and that’s why we are going to do something really special with the 12th Street Garage.
“Grow OV is going to build a really cool rooftop garden on the building, and we have plans for some other areas. We also will use most of it for parking after we make a lot of changes on the interior,” he said. “We have also purchased the Overlook Museum along Grandview Street, and after having some our investors in town this past week, we have looked at another opportunity here that could bring back a lot of life and a lot of pocketbooks into the downtown. So, yes, a new investment is coming.”
