Our Team
Alex Zikmund
PRINCIPAL
I started out as a Civil Engineer and quickly after obtained a master’s in business. These two interests naturally intersected within real estate. Real estate and the built environment have a profound impact on people – both residents and neighbors. A desire to ensure that this impact is positive led us to found GRO.
Through GRO, our goal is to balance a quality experience with attainable rents while providing a reasonable rate of return to our investors. This three-pronged challenge requires us to approach development differently, from funding sources to construction techniques; it also requires us to be intricately involved in every aspect of development. We believe in designing our developments, building our designs, and owning our buildings. Lastly, we gauge our success by whether our residents leave our properties better than when they arrived.
Outside of GRO, I play basketball a couple of times per week and enjoy a good book. I am a past member of the Como Community Council and currently volunteer with my local church and Big Brother Big Sisters.
Cassie Schwetz
COMMUNITY MANAGER
As a Community Manager, I help create spaces where people feel seen, supported, and genuinely connected. My work focuses on cultivating environments where individuals can thrive together rather than in isolation. I view community not as a task to manage, but as a daily practice—something we build, inhabit, and nurture with intention.
Having lived in a coliving home for more than five years, I’ve experienced firsthand what it takes to bring strangers together and transform a shared space into a true home. Living with five other women came with its challenges, but it also offered deep security, warmth, and friendships I wouldn’t trade for anything. That lived experience fuels my excitement to partner with GRO and help foster the same sense of belonging across its communities.
Outside of work, you can usually find me playing the violin, tending to my ever-growing collection of houseplants, or spending time with family and friends.
Tobias Zikmund
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
With GRO, I engage the focus neighborhood through door-knocking and community meetings, sharing information, visiting, gathering feedback, and synthesizing results. Through this, I work to support a community-informed and transparent development process. I work on funding applications with GRO, combining what I learn in the neighborhood with funders' priorities and the facts and goals of the development.
I work as an artist and arts professional. Previously, I worked in public education, nonprofit community events, and federal government, and I'm active with my own neighborhood association. All of these experiences inform my perspective on development, community engagement, and the forces which shape communities and everyday life.
