September 9, 2022

*Hotel Bella Grace, shot by Paul Cheney*

Let's talk about small scale real estate development.

Because there are so many barriers to entry (legal, financial, architectural to name a few), layperson entrepreneur-types don’t typically think of real estate development as the canvas for their energy and ideas…until now.

As a growing number of architecture firms dip their toes in the world of ownership, many platforms supporting small-scale development are booming. Real Estate Twitter grows by the second (exhibit A and B) making complex industry concepts simple. Apps like YieldStreet and CrowdStreet are encouraging fractional real estate ownership, fanning the flames of interest in firsthand development.

Fortunately, orgs like Massive Small, ULI’s Building Small program, and Congress for New Urbanism are pushing concepts for community-oriented small-scale development.

Anyone thinking of diving in?

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MUST-READS

Pakistan Proptech Startup Scene a Standout Among Emerging Markets // Commercial Observer

Restoration Hardware opens it’s first guesthouse — don’t call it a hotel // Robb Report

How West Elm plans to furnish the Metaverse // Furniture Today

Exploring Sensory Urbanism // ArchDaily

Indestructible foam homes in Phoenix // Livabl

The Metaverse Will Enhance — Not Replace — Companies’ Physical Locations // Harvard Business Review

How Tel Aviv brings shade to heat stricken communities // Reasons to be Cheerful

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IDEA SPOTLIGHT

Massive Small

Similar to Missing Middle, Massive Small presents an alternative approach to real estate development that encourages small-scale development, done in partnership with cities and townships. This philosophy entails the government taking a massive lot, dividing up territory, offering it at the lowest possible rate, and allowing the land to quickly and simultaneously be developed by the initiative of many people.

In the words of the org, “Massive Small works with cities as they really are – deeply complex systems, wherein over prescriptive regulation proves unpredictable and ineffective. As such it offers an alternative to our current highly mechanistic model of urban development.”

Website

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