Impact Real Estate Investing

For Chris Miller, it's all about community capital. Chris is chair and one of the founding board members of the National Coalition for Community Capital - or NC3.  They are leading the charge to strengthen local economies by empowering ordinary citizens through community investment and ownership. Chris has been working on community, economic, and entrepreneur development in Michigan for nearly 20 years,  in roles as varied as city official, board chair and Innovation Fellow.  As the City of Adrian's economic developer he secured millions of grant dollars and matching private investments.  But he also developed a local investor group and championed Michigan's MILE – an investment crowdfunding exemption that served as a national model. It's all about community capital for Chris. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Early in her career, very early, Katie McCamant visited Copenhagen.  She was an architecture student studying abroad.  In Copenhagen she learned of a new housing model called co-housing -- a small intentional community of private homes clustered around a shared space. Common space usually includes a large kitchen, dining area and other common facilities, but will vary depending on each communities' wants and needs. This was a brand new concept with just 8 projects built in Copenhagen and nowhere else in the world. Katie was wowed.  She was interested in housing in architecture and this model made so much sense to her.  So she wrote a couple of books and built a career on helping people build their own cohousing community, advising them from soup to nuts. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

As mayor of Salt Lake County a decade ago, Ben McAdams was frustrated that there wasn't $500,000 in a $1.3 billion annual budget for a promising early childhood education program. Not one to permit defeat, he decided to map the value of the city's underutilized real estate.  And that  yielded an impressive number: All of a sudden the city had $45 billion on its balance sheet. “I found out there is actually money under our mattress,” Ben says. “It's real estate that is just forgotten.” Since then Ben has spent time in politics as mayor, senator and congressman. But now he's launched an incubator to help cities map their public assets, much like he did a decade ago, providing a path to solve issues that need money - like affordable housing and homelessness. Every city should listen in. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

This is a long one.  But I couldn't help myself.  You'll soon see why. Enrique Penalosa is an exuberant lover of cities.  Equitable cities. He served as Mayor of Bogota, Colombia not once, but twice, profoundly transforming his city from one with no self-esteem into an international model. As Mayor, Enrique launched TransMilenio, a bus mass transit system, which today moves 2.4 million passengers daily. He also built an extensive bicycle network at a time when only a few northern European cities had one, along with greenways, hundreds of parks, sports and cultural centers, large libraries, 67 schools and a radical 33-hectare redevelopment in the heart of Bogota, previously controlled by drug dealers. This required demolishing more than 1200 buildings. Recently he published a new book called Equality and the City.  Look for it on Amazon. Of course, the accolades are too numerous to mention here. Enrique's work is considered significant and influential by many and the list of awards is long.  There's a lot to learn here.  More than an hour of podcasting can hold. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Lyneir Richardson is building Black wealth through community-owned shopping centers. He has an audacious plan to buy 16 community shopping centers and invite 1,000 small investors to co-own them with his company, Chicago TREND.  He's made a sizable dent in this goal with over 340 investors, and five shopping centers in his portfolio. This will be #6. To accomplish this, Lyneir and his team have developed a rigorous set of criteria for finding and buying shopping centers in majority Black Demographics that are on the cusp of change that might offer added value over a time. His plan is to empower Black entrepreneurs and community residents to have a meaningful ownership stake in the revitalization and continued vibrancy of commercial corridors and Black shopping districts. But there's so much more! Lyneir wants every neighbor to be able to say "We Own This". If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Kirk Sykes is Managing Director of Accordia Partners, a Boston-based real estate investment and development company. Accordia develops large public-private real estate projects. Kirk was previously the head of Urban Strategy America Fund, perhaps one of the first urban real estate equity funds focused on the triple bottom line. And that brings us to this podcast.  Kirk has had a highly successful career, but that is not enough for him.  He has always given back, and for Kirk that means helping the Black community he is part of access capital and investment opportunities that have historically been unavailable to them.  Listen in to learn more! If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

In real estate development, envisioning how future societies will live can often feel like masterminding a high-tech work of science fiction.  Just outside of Houston, a new development of the future is emerging. But instead of flying cars and sky-scraping utopias, this version of Tomorrowland has its roots firmly and sustainably planted in days gone by. Indigo, a 235-acre community, is being developed by Scott Snodgrass and his partner Clayton Garrett, both farmers. They have thoughtfully gone against the norm in every aspect of this project, focusing first and foremost on people and a human-scale to encourage interaction.  Downsized lots and homes, a working farm, the integration of small businesses, careful attention paid to embracing everyone, all make this project one worth watching. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.  

Rich Rogers is an urban planner and attorney in Buffalo, New York. In his practice he focuses on tax credit financing and on creative problem-solving to help public and private sector projects work from concept into financing and implementation.  Rich is also a real estate developer, with a project in lease-up on Buffalo's main street.  There he's put his knowledge to good use, converting a 30,000 s.f. Historic building into modern retail and affordable housing units, and employing every trick in his book to build his super-complicated capital stack, which of course, includes tax credits. If that's not enough, Rich has a crowdfunding platform called Common Owner focused on real estate and, you guessed it, crowdfunding tax credits as well. There's a lot to learn here.  You'll enjoy listening in. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to  RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Adriana Abizadeh is the executive director of the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT) in Philadelphia. You might wonder what that is and why it exists. Kensington was once known as the Workshop of the World with booming manufacturing and a well-employed neighborhood. Then, Kensington Avenue was a bustling local business corridor. Now there is a lack of economic investment and everything that comes with it.  58% of Kensington residents live below the federal poverty line and the average household annual income is just over $20,000. Formed in 2020, the trust is tasked with reclaiming control of the corridor. They do this through the purchase of property which is placed in trust and governed by the neighborhood. Neighborhood trusts are fairly new but if Adriana has her way, they will become mainstream.  Listen in to learn more! If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

As we embark on a new year, we're all thinking about fixing things.  I bumped this podcast up on my list, because Tracy Hadden Loh has a much bigger and more inspiring fix list than most of us do. Tracy is bi-racial and has experienced inequity first hand.  Even as a young child she knew something was wrong.  Her career has been a purposeful exploration of how to fix things. As a Fellow with the Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro, a branch within the Brookings institution, Tracy focuses on cities, downtown metropolitan areas, placemaking, diversity in cities and reinventing cities post-pandemic.  And of course, fixing things.   If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

After a successful career in architecture and design in New York City, Mark Winkelman purchased a 300,000  s.f. historic Pajama factory. Once the largest pajama factory in the country, the buildings sat vacant in a small town in central Pennsylvania with a population of just 114,000   They set about filling it, one corner at a time, with a vision for an affordable and thriving creative hub. 16 years later, and  60% complete, the stunning buildings are coming back to life but there is still more to do.   What was Mark's motivation?  And his thesis?  And how has it played out? If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

It's been 4 years since I first interviewed Lorenzo Perez and I love his work every bit as much as I did then. Lorenzo advocates for LOCAL community, culture and commerce in his real estate projects, and for crafting, artistic, one-of-a-kind environments and experiences.  He and his company, Venue, put that passion to work throughout the Metro Phoenix market. This approach helped them to weather the last four years, pandemic and all.  Lorenzo was about to open his first hotel project right after everyone was sent home … and yet.  Well, I'm not going to say more because that would make me a spoiler. You'll have to listen in! If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Atif Qadir is a serial entrepreneur, but that's not where he started. Trained as an architect and urban planner, Atif decided pretty early on that he wanted to work his way up the ladder, from servicing developers as an architect or builder, to being one!   So he started developing his own small properties, and as his frustrations with finding project financing grew, so did his entrepreneurial ideas.  He launched Commonplace, a fintech platform,  with a mind to create a marketplace for emerging developers and investors.  Dating for development projects. In amongst all of this and in partnership with the Office of Michael Graves, Atif hosts a podcast show called American Building. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

This is my second podcast interview with Brian Murray.  But time has passed, and his business (and expertise) have grown.  Brian came to real estate as a non-real estate guy. Always interested in impact, he wanted to find a way to address poverty and real estate presented a tangible path.  And so he launched SHIFT Capital, an impact urban real estate group focused on mission-oriented real estate  strategies in underserved communities. Simply put, at  Shift, Brian works on uncovering  better solutions to  society's most difficult urban challenges - intergenerational poverty, urban revitalization, access to opportunity, and community displacement.  If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

From Wall Street to mortgage banking to real estate developer. Joel Miller has focused his career with clarity and purpose. And now he's taking it one step further by raising money for his next real estate project, through crowdfunding.    Joel wants to bring others up behind him.  He wants to give others the opportunities he's been given. And one small way to do that is to provide an opportunity for everyone to invest in his latest project. Early on in his career, Joel realized that his goal to lead an organization might not happen if he waited for an opportunity.  So he made his own.  He started his own company, Wall Street Capital Partners, specializing in sourcing and arranging debt and equity for acquisitions and development of real estate.  And of course, over time he started to build his own real estate portfolio. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Joyous disruption. This is Jonathan Dodson's goal with each and every real estate project he develops. Jonathan pivoted from an early career as a banker to real estate developer, aptly calling the firm he co-founded, Pivot Projects. He had developed an interest in urban neighborhoods and redevelopment initiatives, and when given an opportunity to co-partner on a project, he grabbed it. Now he leads the Pivot Team, navigating tough conversations and decisions to create the best outcomes for his teammates, partners and tenants. And for Jonathan, the best outcomes are not traditional ones.  If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Lindsey Scannapieco is an urbanist and an artist in every sense of the word. While living and studying in the UK, Lindsey worked on projects such as activating an underutilized subterranean crossing alongside Westminster Council, supporting Tech Shop in their global expansion, and developing a community led design project that reconsiders traditional construction hoardings in South Kilburn. All of this led her to found Scout, an urban design and development practice that focuses on the activation of underutilized space. Not one to think little, Lindsey submitted a proposal to purchase a 340,000 square foot vocational school building from the city of Philadelphia. Much to her surprise, she won the bid. Eight years later, BOK, as it is called, is a thriving and creative mix of makers, small businesses, and nonprofits, and 100% full. The building is a testament to Lindsey's staying power. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Liz Dunn is a real estate artist. After spending the early years of her career as a software developer at Microsoft, Liz made a hard pivot and launched her own Seattle company in a completely different field: real estate.    The last 20+ years have been filled with people and buildings for Liz. Of her 35 or so retail tenants, all are local and over half are minorities or women.  Fascinating names like Chophouse Row, the Agnes Lofts and Melrose Market label even more fascinating spaces. And then there is the Cloud Room.  It's a Culture club, lounge and bar packaged as a coworking space and located inside one of her buildings. Liz runs two affiliated businesses as well:  Cloud Studios, a practice facility for musicians; and the Overcast Room, a podcast-recording studio. These businesses add a vibrant dimension to already fascinating buildings.  With an organic but masterful style, there's lots to learn from Liz, so listen in! If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Franchell Abdalla is a minority in every sense of the word. She is black, a woman and a real estate developer. But that's not stopping her. Not for one little moment. Franchell only recently launched her development company, Be Good Development, and yet she has her sights set on incredibly complex and rich real estate projects.  She assembled an astounding team to win a significant Request for Proposals issued by the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She won and has been grappling with a 100,000 s.f. Foundry building, planning its repurposed life and working on the legal and financial structure.  There are plenty of setbacks, as there always are, but to Franchell it is all a joyful challenge. There is lots to love in my conversation with Franchell. Please listen in! If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Charles Marohn is a recovering engineer. He used to build roads. Charles followed all the rules he learned while studying to become an engineer. But in 2008, well into his engineering career, he became disenchanted with the notion that more roads lead to prosperity. So, Charles started blogging his thoughts. He advocated for a new approach to land use and warned about the dangers of suburban sprawl. With each blog, Charles gained readers until the blog converted into a non profit organization called Strong Towns. Today, Strong Towns has millions of followers. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Samuel Alemayehu was born in Ethiopia and educated in the US. He is a serial entrepreneur and investor focused on deploying technology as an equalizing force. "Let's change the world to technology and products that empower the individual and sustain the village" says Sam. Through his work with Cambridge Industries, Sam is revolutionizing the way we think about sustainable energy and infrastructure. He built the first waste to energy plant customized for sub-Saharan Africa in Ethiopia, the Reppie Waste to Energy project. The project takes 80% of the city's garbage and turns it into 25% of its electricity. Sam has boundless energy and a lot to tell. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Ten years ago, Jeff Speck wrote a book called Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time. Since it was published, in 2012, the book has become one of the most popular titles in urban planning. His blunt assessment of the state of the planning profession, along with 10 steps for improving street design, have influenced efforts to improve safety and livability across U.S. cities over the last 10 years. Basically, it's all about walking, for Jeff. Listen in and learn. After all, Jeff's TED talks and YouTube videos have been viewed more than five million times ... If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Is the city dead?  Christopher Leinberger doesn't think so. He recently co-authored a report called Foot Traffic Ahead 2023 that loudly proclaims, the city is not dead.  Post pandemic, price premiums and increased market share dominate walkable urban places. These findings may cement walkable places as the wave of the future. They point to us moving toward a more connected, environmentally-sustainable way of life Christopher has a storied career in real estate policy and development. His most recent project, Places Platform, an information services company, tells you what “location, location, location” is actually worth. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

People. Planet. Profit … and Place. This is the return that Juli Kaufmann believes all real estate should achieve. Less than that is simply not good enough for Juli. Juli  founded her company, Fix Development, with this explicit goal in mind.  She applies her philosophy to each and every project in her portfolio, prioritizing economic stability, environmental stewardship, social equity, and cultural continuity.  One recent example is The Aux Evanston in Illinois, a vacant warehouse destined to be converted to a Black-owned business wellness hub.  The goal is for the community to own and manage the building, with investors contributing through a crowdfunded capital raise and Juli has orchestrated this in the background.  Juli is a woman mapping her own path. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

In 2019, Dafna Kaplan embarked upon a journey to uncover the obstacles preventing true construction innovation from widespread adoption. Extensive research and development led her to launch Cassette, and garnered her the 2020 Presidential Award from the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for her work addressing the housing crisis. In 2022, Cassette introduced a beautifully designed one-bedroom apartment pod that can stack up to six stories high into a multifamily development. Dafna's commitment is simple and straightforward: Deliver one manufactured product exceptionally well, improve that product's performance and features over time, and with that discipline and repetition – reverse the cost escalation in housing construction. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Micaela Connery is co-founder and CEO of The Kelsey, a non-profit focused on inclusive housing for people with disabilities. Micaela's lifelong advocacy grew out of her relationship with her late cousin and close friend, Kelsey Flynn O'Connor, who lived with multiple disabilities. As the two grew up together, Micaela saw firsthand the obstacles many disabled people face in accessing the same resources as their nondisabled peers. Determined to work on solutions, she realized there was no cohesive model for housing that would allow people like her cousin to live independently in a mixed community, so she set out to build one. Since founding The Kelsey in 2017, Micaela has secured more than $120 million in funding to pilot programming in existing units and to finance new buildings in two of the nation's most challenging housing markets—San Jose and San Francisco. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Lyneir Richardson is building Black wealth through community-owned shopping centers. He is planning to buy 16 community shopping centers and invite 1,000 small investors to co-own them with his company, Chicago TREND.    To accomplish this, Lyneir and his team have developed a rigorous set of criteria for finding and buying shopping centers in majority Black Demographics that are on the cusp of change, and which offer added value over time. His plan is to empower Black entrepreneurs and community residents to have a meaningful ownership stake in both commercial corridors and Black shopping districts. Lyneir wants every neighbor to be able to say “We Own This." If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

“Being a developer without believing in architecture and its fundamental principles is like being religious without believing in God.” This is Philip Kafka's take on architecture and real estate. I recently got to talk with him about his work and I think you will be as wowed as I am. Philip has taken a position on rebuilding Detroit that is inspirational, innovative and rare. He's working in forgotten places, and on land that no one else believes has much value. His projects weave together commercial buildings and community space to create sculptural places you just want to be in. And his unique approach has certainly earned him accolades.  I just want to visit every single one of his projects.  If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Greg Howes is the co-founder of CutMyTimber, a fabricator of timber and steel components for the entire building industry. Their projects are spread as far as Alaska, Québec, and Australia, with production based in Portland, OR, with an office in Vancouver, BC.  They are able to make highly complex and efficient building systems available to both large and small companies, as well as to individual, independent builders. What makes them unique is how they use state-of-the-art computer software to optimize their projects. This result is less waste and off-cuts, so they can build 'greener' at lower cost. And now they are pushing their technology even further, building to 'passive house' and net zero energy standards.  Oh yes and don't forget the mass timber 'tiny homes' they are developing! If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Three years ago, I interviewed the delightful Jeremy McCleod of Breathe Architecture, and today I'm lucky enough to interview him again. Jeremy founded Breathe, an architecture studio in Melbourne, Australia. There he delivers gorgeous and sustainable buildings to his clients. But Jeremy was unhappy with the ever-widening gap between those who have wealth and those who do not. So, he embarked on a second journey to deliver sustainable and affordable housing to everyone. Many told him that this was an impossible goal. But he completed his first project, The Commons, with accolades, three years ago. With a waiting list of over 8000 buyers, Jeremy and his team set about building lots more. This is what a great architect does. Listen in to learn more. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Last summer we got to talk to Molly Meyer, a remarkable entrepreneur who wants to put a green roof within the reach of anyone who owns a building, big or small. Why, you ask?   80% of the buildings that will exist in a few decades from now are already built. And since buildings are one of the biggest contributors to climate change, figuring out how to retrofit them economically, and easily, is a must do. Green roofs are a big part of that. Molly is tackling this through engineering incredibly lightweight soil and systematically training contractors in how to use it. Her company, OmniSystems, based in Chicago is growing, evidence of the demand. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman is an urban anthropologist. Want to know what that is? So did we! As an anthropologist, Katrina is curious about us – and why we behave the way we do in society and spaces. As an urbanist, she's passionate about our cities – and how we can make them better for us, mentally and physically. So she applies anthropological principles, research methods, and the lessons learned from our collective history to the present day, observing interactions between people and the built environment, in the spaces between buildings. This is what an urban anthropologist does. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Adam Gower is the founder of GowerCrowd. On his platform he shares his decades of experience in finance and development, showing developers how to raise money online for real estate crowdfunding deals. Content-rich, the platform has educational materials and training courses for both developers and investors alike. Adam also hosts a podcast show called The Real Estate Crowdfunding Show, where he speaks with the founders of crowdfunding platforms, attorneys, professors, investors and more, all on the topic of crowdfunding. Oh yeh ... and he's written 5 books as well! If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Sandra Lupien is passionate about the potential of mass timber. As Director of MassTimber at Michigan State University in Lansing, a program focused on outreach, research and education, she is working to advance mass timber construction and manufacturing in the state of Michigan.  Sandra originally came to mass timber after exploring possible uses for wood ravaged by a beetle infestation, the result of years of drought in California. Today, she is part of a growing energetic community advancing Mass Timber as material for all construction types.  If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

It started with Tosha Wilson and her cousin wanting to open a laundromat with comfortable seating, fresh brewed coffee, a book room, and a yoga/meditation space. But they were turned down for every small business loan they applied for. In an interview, Tosha said, “Two professionals with decent jobs [and] good credit scores, and the bank basically told us, ‘You don't have enough experience.'" Out of frustration Tosha founded an internet-based community group, called Boosting Black Business, that helped raise over $100,000 for Black-owned start-up companies throughout Chicagoland. The Chicago Tribune named her as one of their “10 People that Gave Me Hope in 2020.” Today she is a co-developer of an $8 million project in Evanston called The Aux, planned as a 100% community-owned Black-business hub. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Cedric Bobo is the co-founder of Project Destined, a non-profit that teaches minority teenagers the ins and outs of real estate investments. The name, Project Destined, was inspired by the 2016 film Destined, which tells the story of a young boy who in one reality is a drug dealer, and in the other, a successful architect. The outcome of a single event determines the path the man pursues. Cedric, who has roughly two decades of investor and investment banking experience, plans to change the outcome to a successful one for many minority teenagers. In 2015, Cedric was named to the “10 Top Powerful Black People on Wall Street You Should Know,” so he has a lot to share. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Adewale Agboola is an astounding photographer with many Fortune 500 clients. As a Black man he is in a minority in that profession. Only about 5% of professional photographers are Black. He is also a minority in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. Only about 13% of the population in Portland is Black. But he and his partner, Cyrus Coleman, another successful artist who also lives in Portland, started hatching a plan to create a small art gallery/meeting space aimed at people just like them. Last year, they closed on a 20,000 sf building in downtown Portland, not so small at all, and have some big plans to turn it into a creative hub, catering to BIPOC creatives. They call themselves the Creative Homies. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Jamison Manwaring is enjoying success as the co-founder and CEO of Neighborhood Ventures, an innovative Arizona-based real estate crowdfunding company, focused on value-add multi-family properties. It's a real estate company for sure – they buy, hold and sell property. But the capital plan is innovative. Jamison went to business school and studied finance. He loved it enough to become president of the finance club. Even at a young age his determination shone through. He wanted to work in New York, at a top finance firm. But those companies have their pick of Ivy league school graduates ... So every Thursday night Jamison flew the red eye to New York to network. But wait, if I tell you what happened next I'd be a spoiler ... If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Meet Julie Bargmann, the inaugural recipient of the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, described as the landscape architecture equivalent of the Pritzker Prize, so it's a really big deal! What makes this most exciting is the work that is being honored. In 1992, Julie founded D.I.R.T studio – Dump It Right There – intent on regenerating contaminated and forgotten urban and post industrial sites. And it all began near Pittsburgh, at the Vintondale Reclamation Park, a 25-acre park on a former coal mine. The end result became the early poster child of her work, and a model for bioremediation featured in the Cooper Hewitt National Design Triennial. Today, she is referred to as the “fairy godmother of industrial wastelands,” as she crafts amazing new landscapes out of contaminated and toxic sites. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Elizabeth Timme is no snowflake. Strong and outspoken with degrees in architecture under her belt, she's building an alternative career on the strong beliefs she holds. That great design should be a right, not a privilege. A third generation architect born in Texas with childhood years spent in Italy and West Indies, Elizabeth has made roots in L.A.. First, she co-founded La Mas in northeast L.A. and now Office of Office, a nonprofit focused on designing joyful and careful places in collaboration with communities. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Allison Arieff was lucky enough to help launch Dwell magazine, first as founding senior editor and then editor in chief. During her tenure, the Design and Architecture magazine won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, and by that point, it had already become a ubiquitous read for an emergent design community, rekindling a design lifestyle boom for the 21st century. Since then, Allison has continued to build a storied and prominent career as a writer, author and thought leader. Prefab, her first book, explores the history and innovative potential of prefabricated housing well before prefab became a thing. Today, Allison is back where she started as the editorial director of another print magazine, MIT Technology Review. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Helle Søholt was just 28 years old in 2000 when she co-founded Gehl Architects with Jan Gehl, her professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Together, they built a commanding firm, now over two decades old. Gehl focuses on people first in urban design with a focus on walkability and access to greenery and public space. In 2016, Helle took over as CEO and the firm now has offices in Copenhagen, San Francisco and New York. People first has gone from its humble beginnings in Copenhagen, to work that spans over 50 countries and 250 cities globally.  If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Tracy Hadden Loh is biracial and has experienced inequity firsthand. Even as a young child, she knew something was wrong. Her career has been a purposeful exploration of how to fix things. These days Tracy is a Fellow with the Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro, a branch within the Brookings Institution. There, Tracy focuses on what interests her the most. She is an advocate for cities with a focus on downtown metropolitan areas in the U.S. She writes about placemaking, diversity in cities and reinventing cities post-pandemic. And she's advocating for the great real estate reset. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Rebecca Möller has managed very big construction projects for her entire career. In fact, she's overseen more than 22 million square feet of commercial real estate worth over $10 billion in construction projects nationally. That's a lot. But now she is tackling an even bigger problem – the housing crisis in California. Recognizing the need for a scalable solution, Rebecca has designed, and is manufacturing and deploying, a garage-to-ADU conversion kit. Buy the kit and your contractor can convert your garage into an affordable and income-producing accessory dwelling unit in a matter of weeks.  If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Early in his career, Jim Heid worked on humongous real estate projects all over the world as a management consultant. Over time, the diversity of places he lived and worked in shaped his appreciation of small, community-centric places with soul. He moved his head and heart from a loft in downtown San Francisco to the tiny 12,000-person town of Healdsburg in California, where he is building his thesis that small is big. There are some big things that Jim is working on. They include his small-scale developer forums, which are growing bigger. A recently published book called "Building Small: A Toolkit for Real Estate Entrepreneurs, Civic Leaders and Great Communities" and real estate projects that are small and meaningful. Jim Heid has found his tribe. Slowly but surely, he is bringing together like-minded thinkers with his forums, his book and his real estate projects. His path from big to small is inspirational. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Brinda Devine wants to get back to basics. Early on in her real estate career, Brinda says she was often the only woman and/or Black person in the office, in meetings, at events, and even in classes.  Today, she has over 25 years of experience in real estate, having worked as VP of Asset Management for Acquest Development, and as Wayne State University's first Real Estate Officer.  In 2020 she started P8 Real Estate Solutions, to focus on developing neighborhood marketplaces in areas that lack easy access to the daily necessities most of us take for granted. Her first project is the Kornr Store. Brinda says, "We could have a long discussion on the why, but I would rather focus on a solution and create a why not.” If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Madelyn Kirch is the founder of Sun & Moon Marketing Communications in New York. What differentiates her agency is its focus on real estate. Madelyn founded her company in her basement with a $2,500 investment. That was almost 30 years ago, and the need for Sun & Moon's expertise hasn't waned, in part because developers are not schooled in marketing and generally need (serious) help. Over the years 'marketing' has changed (a lot). Gone are the days of ads in a newspaper. Today you need to find your audience in other ways. Listen in to hear how Madelyn thinks marketing real estate works best. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

David Kemper wanted to find a way to safeguard established renters against gentrification. His goal was to build a real-estate investment model that both stabilized existing rents and gave a voice to that community. The model he landed on, MINT (or Mixed-Income Neighborhood Trust), is a sophisticated and replicable ownership model. Each MINT develops, owns, and operates a rental housing and retail portfolio. Trust Neighborhoods, David's non-profit, works with neighborhood-focused organizations to facilitate the formation of each MINT with the goal of a self-sustaining organization, run by the neighborhoods themselves. Trust Neighborhoods is still new, but David has said that they hope to expand their reach and work with neighborhoods around the country. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Early in his career Paul Rabinovitch worked as a tree planter in the reforestation industry, personally planting over 800,000 trees in Canada, where he grew up. That set the stage for the career he pursued, first as the Executive Director at The Nature Conservancy, and then as a founder of Terracycle Investments, a socially-conscious real estate firm. Now Paul heads up Real Estate Investment at New Island Capital, one of the largest family offices in the country, and one of the first to focus on impact investment  ... before such a thing really existed. New Island invests in growing companies as well as farms, forests, and, of course, real estate at scale!  If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

From an early age, Rico Quirindongo was interested in the impact of the built environment on people.  That's why he became an architect. But he sees an architect's role as much larger than just designing buildings with a useful life.  He believes every architect has an obligation, a responsibility to engage in a civic conversation for design justice - to absorb the history of a place and the needs of the current community  in a meaningful way, into each and every design. Recently Rico became Interim Director at the Office of Planning and Community Development for the City of Seattle, the city he has lived his life in.  And this role feeds his soul.  Here he can push harder for what he believes in. Positive results are already rolling in. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.

Molly Meyer is democratizing the green roof. Why, you ask?   80% of the buildings that will exist in a few decades from now are already built. And since buildings are one of the biggest contributors to climate change, figuring out how to retrofit them economically, and easily, is a must do. Green roofs are a big part of that. Molly wants to put a green roof within the reach of anyone who owns a building, big or small. She's tackling this through engineering incredibly lightweight soil and systematically training contractors in how to use it. Her company, OmniSystems in Chicago is growing, evidence of the demand. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast and go to RethinkRealEstateForGood.co, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about my podcasts, blog posts and other goodies.