Frontier Housing drops DreamBuild factory in Martin County, seeks to abandon lease

The Martin Industrial Building is a 55,000-square-foot facility on 30 acres in the Eastern Kentucky Business Park in Debord. (One East Kentucky photo)

BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — Frontier Housing wants to abandon its lease for Martin County’s industrial building in Debord, shelving a modular housing factory that was expected to create 20 to 40 jobs, Economic Development Authority (EDA) Chairman James Ayers announced during an April 8 board meeting.

Martin County Economic Development Authority Board in a meeting April 8 in Inez. From left are Board Members Ryan Howell, Ryan Wilson, Mike Sweeney, James Ayers and Brad Pack, along with Director Carolea Mills. (Citizen photo by Roger Smith)

The Morehead-based nonprofit leased the 55,000-square-foot building in June 2025, saying it would open a factory in the Eastern Kentucky Business Park to launch DreamBuild, its modular housing initiative. The company said then that it expected to hire 20 to 25 employees within the first 12 months of taking occupancy and grow that number to nearly 40 within two years.

Frontier Housing, however, never moved into the facility.

According to Ayers, Tom Manning-Beavin, who executed the lease last year, is no longer with Frontier Housing. He said Chelsa Hamilton, Frontier’s interim president and chief executive officer, who also serves as chief financial officer, told the EDA the company had decided to stop the DreamBuild expansion.

“[Hamilton] has been in contact with us concerning a scenario where they can essentially abandon their lease,” Ayers said. “They would like to know from us what would make that possible. We will evaluate that between now and our next board meeting. That’s something we’re going to look at and talk to [Attorney] Brian Cumbo about.”

Ayers said Hamilton cited the federal funding climate, saying it has severely impacted Frontier.

Previously, Frontier publicly tied DreamBuild to outside grant support.

In a September 2024 press release, the nonprofit said a three-year, $1.85 million grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation to Fahe would support DreamBuild Kentucky. Frontier said its portion would help cover startup costs including equipment, materials, facilities and staff as it launched and scaled the modular housing initiative in Eastern Kentucky.

Fahe is a Berea-based nonprofit network of Appalachian community development organizations.

The James Graham Brown Foundation is a Louisville-based philanthropy.

Hamilton did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.

The EDA board will meet May 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the government center.

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