This Workshop on small scale real estate development is all about project formation. We take a big picture view of neighborhood-based development to help attendees analyze what makes a good project, how a building makes money, and how small developers interact with the broader ecosystem of professionals in the built environment.

New and aspiring small developers won’t want to miss this monthly meetup with IncDev Faculty Members and local experts to dig into topics that will help you get your project off the ground.

Christopher Alexander's pattern language is more admired than applied — until now. Architect Ross Chapin draws from his experience designing pocket neighborhoods to show how patterns become practical design moves, from street layout to the layers of personal space that make people feel at home. See how pattern language shapes real site plans.

Presented by Ross Chapin

Do you want to learn more about how you can become a small real estate developer for a project in your neighborhood?  Are you an advocate or local leader looking to encourage better buildings in your community?

Join us for a lecture, discussion and Q&A by Ryan Terry, Faculty Member at IncDev Alliance and Principal of R+T Studio.

Residential segregation wasn't an accident — it was built by deliberate, unconstitutional government policy, and we have a responsibility to undo it. Drawing from Just Action, Leah Rothstein will explain how we got here and share concrete strategies for challenging segregation at the local level through housing policy, development practices, and community advocacy.

Presented by Leah Rothstein

Join us with author Mike Hathorne, as he discusses what his book “The Great Housing Reversal” uncovers about America’s housing future. We’ll explore the largest demographic shift in housing since WWII, changing where people want to live and how value is created and what the next generation wants: smaller homes, walkable neighborhoods, and real connection, while sprawl leaves cities with unsustainable costs.

Presented by Mike Hathorne

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are powerful tools for addressing disinvestment and building stronger, more equitable communities. Whether you’re a new or experienced developer, understanding how to work with a CDFI can unlock critical financing for your affordable housing, mixed-income, or mixed-use project. In this session, ANDP, a U.S. Treasury-certified CDFI based in Atlanta, and Incremental Development Alliance (IDA) Faculty will walk you through what it takes to prepare your organization and your project to access CDFI funding.

Presented by Sara Haas and Eric Kronberg

Join us for a conversation on building durable comprehensive plans that survive political change. Norman's AIM 2045 demonstrates how community-identified principles—walkability, housing diversity, green space—create legitimacy and shared decision-making frameworks. Learn how principles-first planning transforms engagement into governance and keeps implementation on track.

Presented by Matthew Peacock

This Workshop on small scale real estate development is all about project formation. We take a big picture view of neighborhood-based development to help attendees analyze what makes a good project, how a building makes money, and how small developers interact with the broader ecosystem of professionals in the built environment.

This Workshop on small scale real estate development is all about project formation. We take a big picture view of neighborhood-based development to help attendees analyze what makes a good project, how a building makes money, and how small developers interact with the broader ecosystem of professionals in the built environment.

Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World offers an alternative to single-family subdivision development — small clusters of homes where residents can easily know one another, share daily life, and still enjoy privacy.

The final section of the book turns to the challenge of working within places that already exist — neighborhoods shaped by past decisions, established patterns, and current constraints. Rather than proposing large-scale redevelopment, this section focuses on how pocket neighborhood principles can be woven incrementally into existing communities. Join us to explore strategies for inserting small clusters of homes, shared spaces, and social patterns into ordinary contexts: suburban lots, alleys, underused parcels, and evolving neighborhoods.

In Conversation with Ross Chapin

Historic places carry more than bricks and mortar — they hold stories, cultural memory, and the potential to inspire new economic growth. Yet, too often, these spaces are undervalued or overlooked in favor of new construction. This session reframes historic redevelopment as both a financial and cultural investment. By combining entrepreneurial insight with community-centered storytelling, developers, investors, and stakeholders can unlock new value in old spaces while honoring the legacy of those who came before.

Presented by Dr. Valecia Dunbar, Regina M. Lewis

Do you want to learn more about how you can become a small real estate developer for a project in your neighborhood?  Are you an advocate or local leader looking to encourage better buildings in your community?

Join us for a lecture, discussion and Q&A by Eric Kronberg, Faculty Member at IncDev Alliance and Principal of Kronberg U+A.

Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World offers an alternative to single-family subdivision development — small clusters of homes where residents can easily know one another, share daily life, and still enjoy privacy.

The third part of the book examines cohousing communities as a model for intentional neighborhood building, where residents actively participate in designing and governing their shared spaces. These examples show how communities can be built around shared values and commitments to neighborliness, offering lessons for anyone interested in creating pocket neighborhoods with strong social bonds at their foundation. Join us to engage in questions about how much intentionality and resident participation makes sense for the communities you want to build.

In Conversation with Ross Chapin

Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World offers an alternative to single-family subdivision development — small clusters of homes where residents can easily know one another, share daily life, and still enjoy privacy.

The second part of the book showcases contemporary pocket neighborhoods, asking how their essential patterns translate into real projects today. These examples show how small clusters of homes — often built as infill or modest-scale developments — can succeed socially and financially when design decisions are made with care. In this session, we’ll explore how factors such as site layout, parking placement, shared outdoor space, and thresholds between private and common life shape daily interactions. Join us to discuss the practical lessons, tradeoffs, and decisions that matter most for developers, designers, and planners working within contemporary constraints.

In Conversation with Ross Chapin

Sometimes finding viable development sites requires thinking back to traditional people-centric methods that AI cannot perform. This interactive session explores creative approaches to site identification that go beyond listings, broker packages, and AI services. Learn how to utilize people, technology, and curiosity to discover hidden opportunities before they hit the market.

Presented by Chris Allcorn

This Workshop on small scale real estate development is all about project formation. We take a big picture view of neighborhood-based development to help attendees analyze what makes a good project, how a building makes money, and how small developers interact with the broader ecosystem of professionals in the built environment.

Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World offers an alternative to single-family subdivision development — small clusters of homes where residents can easily know one another, share daily life, and still enjoy privacy.

The book begins by defining what Pocket Neighborhoods are, then addresses the fundamental question: why do so many people feel isolated in so-called “neighborhoods”? We’ll look back historic pocket neighborhood precedents as a source of instruction rather than nostalgia. Drawing from examples such as Dutch hofjes, bungalow courts, and early Garden City neighborhoods, we’ll explore what these places reveal about scale, shared space, and daily interaction — and what still applies today. Join us as we consider how these long-standing patterns help explain the renewed relevance of pocket neighborhoods, especially for practitioners working within real-world constraints.

In Conversation with Ross Chapin

Join us to learn how to scale affordable urban homeownership with Frolic Community's innovative co-op model. Proven in Seattle and now expanding to California, this approach leverages cooperative ownership structures to make homeownership accessible through reduced down payments and developer-homeowner partnerships from day one.

Presented by Josh Morrison, COO and Co-Founder of Frolic Community, this virtual session will cover co-op economics in action, the collaborative development approach, and pathways to launch your first community-centered infill project.

Presented by Josh Morrison

Developers can build the kind of housing Americans actually want— walkable, connected neighborhoods that improve quality of life and strengthen local economies. Yet decades of U.S. policy and zoning have made these places nearly impossible to deliver, leaving enormous unmet demand on the table.

Culdesac has spent the last seven years proving that building mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods in the United States is a scalable model that delivers what residents and cities actually want. This Small Bites session will offer a practical, actionable look at how Culdesac did it, and how your city or development project can, too.

Presented by Ryan Johnson

Join us for an in-depth look at AARP's comprehensive national housing agenda and the innovative policy approaches gaining traction across the country. We'll explore how accessory dwelling units, missing middle housing, transit-oriented development, and universal design principles are converging to expand housing choices for older adults—and creating more inclusive communities for everyone.

Presented by Samar Jha

Don't miss this exclusive opportunity to enhance your financial acumen and drive success in real estate development. Jenifer Acosta will guide you through practical exercises, highlighting key concepts such as income estimation, expense optimization, and deciphering the financial story a pro forma tells. This session is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to translate your project's financial goals to investors effectively.

Presented by Jenifer Acosta

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are powerful tools for addressing disinvestment and building stronger, more equitable communities. Whether you’re a new or experienced developer, understanding how to work with a CDFI can unlock critical financing for your affordable housing, mixed-income, or mixed-use project. In this session, ANDP, a U.S. Treasury-certified CDFI based in Atlanta, and Incremental Development Alliance (IDA) Faculty will walk you through what it takes to prepare your organization and your project to access CDFI funding.

Presented by Sara Haas and Eric Kronberg

This session is about exploring unconventional development opportunities through the Faith-Based Housing Initiative, a groundbreaking program that connects developers with faith leaders to transform underutilized church properties into much-needed housing.

Presented by Aaron Lubeck

Do you want to learn more about how you can become a small real estate developer for a project in your neighborhood?  Are you an advocate or local leader looking to encourage better buildings in your community? This free public forum is designed for potential developers, small-scale builders, and community leaders committed to producing real, near-term solutions. It’s an opportune time for this discussion, as the city is underway with both their General Plan and Zoning Code Updates.

Featuring: Strong Towns Founder, Charles Marohn, Jr. and IncDev Board Chair, Ryan Terry

This Workshop on small scale real estate development is all about project formation. We take a big picture view of neighborhood-based development to help attendees analyze what makes a good project, how a building makes money, and how small developers interact with the broader ecosystem of professionals in the built environment.

This Seminar on small scale real estate development is all about project formation. We take a big picture view of neighborhood-based development to help attendees analyze what makes a good project, how a building makes money, and how small developers interact with the broader ecosystem of professionals in the built environment.

This session walks through the practical steps to explain how simple code repairs interact with your existing built environment. Spoiler: just because you change the code to allow a thing doesn't mean that thing is going to spring up everywhere!

Presented by Ivy Vann