Aspiring to provide better off-campus housing
A desire for better off-campus student housing was the inspiration for Jeremiah James Ph.D. ’26 to create Adaptive Rentals. The company seeks to purchase and renovate properties and strives to be the “student landlord of choice” in Ithaca. James, who is studying biomedical engineering, is a member of this year’s eLab cohort preparing for Demo Day, held April 13 at the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration.
“The idea came from looking around Collegetown and sympathizing with students on the quality of rentals,” James said. “We believe the home environment is critically important for success.”
James said the company has not yet purchased any properties, but he is looking to apply his previous experience with construction and design, which included working for Vega Properties last summer, where he helped with designing the floor plan of a full gut-and-renovation of a four-story brownstone.
“I also see us enabling students to live comfortably and be able to reach their goals through our rental properties,” James said.
“The owner had only planned on renovating one unit, but after seeing how my design could be applied to all four units, she decided to renovate the entire brownstone,” James said. “That experience sparked my interest in development; the puzzle of piecing together spaces, whether for residential, commercial or mixed-use, and is something I wish to pursue further.”
Adaptive Rentals also sells a lead-generation service to realtors and investors, providing off-market access to homeowners interested in selling their properties.
“Our lead-generation idea came from us trying to find property deals for ourselves,” James said. “Soon realtors and investors started to notice the data we were generating and wanted us to generate leads for them in their markets.”
Cornell has had a huge impact on his entrepreneurial journey. Access to a vast network of alumni has provided guidance crucial to success and programs such as eLab gave the company the structure it needed to continue to make progress in its development. Alumni and faculty provided mentorship along the way, as well.
“Participating in eLab has been the most influential as it has surrounded us with other like-minded students; the camaraderie is priceless,” James said.
As the company progresses, James envisions realtors and investors across the United States using the company’s lead-generation service to gain a competitive edge in the real estate market.
“I also see us enabling students to live comfortably and be able to reach their goals through our rental properties,” James said.
While the first major milestone of Adaptive Rentals is to purchase properties and renovate them for student tenants, James plans to pursue proposing a full-scale development project before graduating.
“We have made the right connections with the local real estate players to guide a team of students and myself to use our creativity and design, from the ground up, a space for students by students,” James said.
James is the CEO of Adaptive Rentals and operates the company with chief operating officer Kylie Grinwald ’22 (COO), along with a design coordinator.
eLab Demo Day takes place April 13 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Statler Auditorium.
Written by Jesse Osbourne
Strategic Communications at Cornell University
