For most small-scale developers, capital is a significant barrier to doing small infill projects. But that isn't because the money isn't there to be had.
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A cohort of small developers representing over 100 properties in poor, disinvested neighborhoods are, together, the largest developer in South Bend, IN. Can their success be replicated?
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It’s important to demystify the development process. Not just for people who have a vested interest in what gets built in their neighborhood, but for people involved in one aspect of the building process — city officials, finance, architects, planners, etc. — who may not fully appreciate what’s happening elsewhere.
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Trying to navigate opaque bureaucracies, just to get permission to build something that used to be legal everywhere, is like eating Jell-O with chopsticks: tedious and unsatisfying. No wonder people find pragmatic work-arounds instead.
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Bringing a neighborhood back from the brink of ruin, one building at a time, is hard, thankless work—like raising bees when you could just go buy a jar of honey. But when it works, each successful project helps “pollinate” the surrounding area with the seeds of revival, in a virtuous cycle.
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It matters what size chunks we build our cities in. Making room for many small-scale development projects on small lots is the universal historical model for a reason, and modern cities could stand to get back to it.
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Is anyone doing the math on the real costs of development in your city?
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The 7 skills a small-scale developer needs. Hint: If you don't have them, you can find someone who does.
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I am serious about recruiting architects, planners, engineers, activists who consider themselves to be urbanists (new or otherwise) into the ranks of the small developer cohort because I think it is the best way for an urbanist to have an impact in a place they care about.
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R. John Anderson talks about the growth of the small-scale developer movement, recent
Here are the four critical tasks for a small developer trying to get their first project off the ground.
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Small developers who want to build modest mixed-use buildings on their town's Main Street are not able to access the favorable financing available to the developers of large single use suburban apartment complexes.
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Let's expand our idea of what a "house" looks like.
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This week, Incremental Development Alliance is heading to Kalamazoo, MI for a Development Implementation Charrette and Small Developer Training Boot Camp.
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The 7 skills a small-scale developer needs. Hint: If you don't have them, you can find someone who does.
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We're about to unwind a huge experiment and it's not likely to go smoothly. Anything we want to accomplish is going to require extraordinary creativity, resourcefulness and political prowess. That's where the Incremental Development Alliance comes in.
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