The City of Fayetteville is a unique city with unique needs. The transient nature of Fayetteville means that homes are always in demand, and affordable homes can be just a dream. Catherine Warren, contractor and owner of Warren Construction & Demolition LP seeks to fulfill those needs with her company’s services. 

Focusing on demolition, construction, excavations, grading and land clearing, Warren uses her passion for building affordable housing coupled with her business acumen to make her company a formidable force in the industry.

Warren Construction and Demolition has been in business since October of 2023. Since then, Warren and her company have been able to transform areas people normally wouldn’t take a second glance at. She leaves no stone unturned and no opportunity hanging in her pursuit of making housing available to people. 

“We have so many soldiers that are stationed here, a soldier and [their] family should be able to come to this area and buy a home,” said Warren. “That’s increasing money, taxes, home ownership, a sense of community – if we want people to come here and build Fayetteville, we have to have safe, clean, affordable housing,” said Warren. 

Prior to the company, Warren had a career in nursing for 16 years, and owned a hair salon and clothing store. While Warren’s background may not have been the classical route to construction, it all culminated into a perfect repertoire of experience and understanding for her company now.

Her love for Fayetteville and passion comes from a personal place. 

“Growing up, I didn’t have stable housing, I grew up in the projects in New York in Brooklyn and that’s something that stuck with me and I just thought to myself ‘how can I serve people, take my passion, take what I’m good at and really make an impact?’”

By entering into the world of construction, Catherine Warren has broken ceilings – literally and figuratively – for Black women in the industry. She advocates strongly for acquiring advanced licensures regarding heavy construction equipment, and experience with the machinery. 

“The equipment is what allows women to now step into the arena because it’s about operation, it’s not about strength, it’s about knowing your machine and its capabilities,” said Warren. “And I love seeing women in our industry.” 

Warren Construction and Demolition stands apart because of Warren’s empathy for the story behind the demolition sites she works on.

“I think that’s what I bring to construction as a woman is compassion,” said Warren. “Everything’s not just an abandoned house, some people’s houses have burned down, they’ve lost mostly everything, they haven’t been able to go inside, and I will take the time to have my guys sift through or if I find pictures of their family or things that I feel like are salvageable, we’ll set those things aside.”

Warren’s approach spans every project, treating each demolition site not just as another job, but as a repository of memories. “I try to be very compassionate because this was someone’s home, this was their business, this was their dreams, like some of these homes, their husbands built them for their wives years ago, they all have a story! I try to be very compassionate to the family,” said Warren.

Warren and her company’s efforts emphasize sustained affordability in housing developments for the financially disadvantaged, utilizing her smaller scale business to keep it affordable as well. 

“It’s not about the money for me, we gotta make money and we have to pay our bills. I don’t want to build to make money and say ‘how much is the most we can sell this for,’ I want to build and put people in a safe, clean, stable, functional environment,” said Warren. “If they’re handicap, let’s build them a handicap accessible unit that works for them so they can have the highest quality of life. Sometimes something as simple as a ramp can change someone’s life and offer them mobility.”

For Warren, improving the quality of life for homeowners and renters is the goal.

“That’s my motto, I love Jesus and I serve people. I’m not perfect at all, I’ve worked really hard to change my financial outlook and I just know if you use the tools that are available, if you go to these seminars, workshops – if you talk to people, we can really make a huge impact in your community.” 

Warren appreciates her tight-knit network of Fayetteville’s entrepreneurial community and city officials, acknowledging their support and how it has been instrumental in her success. 

“Fayetteville has been everything to me,” said Warren. “There’s so many women down here shaping and making decisions about our city and how they allocate the different funds and for my industry removing the blight and abandoned areas and making way for new construction and new builds – I wouldn’t be in construction if it wasn’t for the City of Fayetteville along with economic development [staff member] Mr. Matthew Hall. Everyone has been so engaging, so inviting; they’ll go the extra mile for me.” 

Through her compassion and leadership, Warren is transforming empty lots into homes, and lives and communities along the way