Cultivating Neighborhoods & the Small Scale Development Movement
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 FREE introduction to incremental development — the approach that builds community wealth through small-scale projects built by and for locals. Learn why modest, achievable developments are crucial for addressing housing affordability and creating walkable neighborhoods.
This session is relevant to anyone working in construction, development, planning, architecture, real estate, engaged in business/neighborhood development, serving in local government, providing loans through banks/CDFIs, or simply interested in improving your neighborhood.
We will highlight some of the projects, policies, and people that have created a healthy environment for small-scale developers, offering inspiration for how you can implement similar improvements within your own community. Bring your questions for our interactive Q&A and connect with attendees afterward.
Details
Agenda:
5:00 p.m.: Doors Open
6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: Strong Towns Housing Presentation
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.: Lecture: Understanding Incremental Development
7:30 p.m - 8:00 p.m.: Q&A
8:00 p.m.+: Join us in the hotel lobby for drinks and continued conversation after the event! This is a great opportunity to connect with other community members interested in incremental development.
To secure your spot at this lecture + a free drink, please RSVP below:
About the Speakers:
Alli Thurmond Quinlan, IncDev’s Executive Director and Principal Architect and Landscape Architect at Flintlock LAB
Alli is an architect, landscape architect, and small infill developer who brings a unique perspective as both a practitioner and former public official. As founder of Flintlock Ltd Co (design) and Flintlock Development (urban infill), she creates beautiful, walkable projects that serve communities while delivering returns for investors. Her experience spans multiple roles— architect, land planner, owner, developer, and city administrator — enabling her to cut through complex zoning codes and financial pro formas. Alli's award-winning work has been recognized by the Congress for New Urbanism, ASLA, AIA, and American Planning Association. She champions small developers as neighborhood advocates who can revitalize communities while protecting longtime residents, demonstrated through her recent tactical urbanism project making walking routes safer for local children.
Neil Heller, IncDev Faculty Member and Principal of Neighborhood Workshop
Neil is an award-winning urban planner and designer who specializes in aligning municipal regulations with community development goals through a unique pro-forma-based approach that quantifies both physical and financial impacts of policy decisions and combines expertise in design, urban planning, housing policy, and real estate development to create actionable 3D models, building plans, and financial analyses that drive meaningful community conversations. Drawing from his hands-on experience as a small landlord who has renovated a duplex and added both a basement suite and ADU using owner-occupied financing, Neil brings practical insights to his advocacy work.
Chris Allen, Strong Towns’ Director of Events and Partnerships
With a long career in operations, sales, and management, Chris brings a passion for collaborating around big ideas and seeing them through. He brings his enthusiasm for the built environment and community advocacy to our partners and supporters through the work of the Development Team. Chris is proud to work out the Strong Towns principles with Strong Towns’ partners and donors — encouraging flourishing for all to positively impact our communities.
**This lecture will be taking place in-person and is in CST
Special Note
This event will kick off IncDev’s weekend of regional tours of the best examples of adaptive reuse, infill development, historic renovations, and hidden gems in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville. This event is exclusive to IncDev members. Interested in signing up? Check out our membership page.
Contact
For questions, please contact training@incrementaldevelopment.org.