Who We Are
Community Builders, Systems Thinkers, Change-Makers
Our Philosophy: Value-Based Development
Everything we do starts with Value.
Not just monetary - social, environmental, ethical, cultural, aesthetic. What are the value-systems at hand, and how can our projects have the greatest net positive effect? Who is usually left out from the value-creation of the real estate process, and how can we include them?
We believe that changes in the built environment are one of the best levers to enact broader social changes. By taking a nuanced and systemic approach to understanding the embedded value systems, we hope to optimize the good that each of our projects can achieve.
Each project presents unique challenges and opportunities, but here are some of the core values that drive us….
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Our projects center the idea that small interventions in the built environment can create outsized effects in community creation. We leverage these changes to create spaces that help end-users build social capital and integrate into the larger community systems of which they are a part.
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To us, projects that embrace a creative aesthetic are intrinsically more valuable and lead to a sense of place that can’t be replicated. Beyond design, we employ a creative approach to partnerships, finance, problem-solving, and any other hurdles that are bound to come up during the development process. This is what makes our jobs fun.
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Use what is there. The built environment drives a lion’s share of waste created in the US. We use our creative impulses to figure out how to reuse and repurpose, rather than attempting to start new. When demolition is necessary, waste streams are recycled wherever possible. The historical presence of structures (regardless of historical designation) is valued and honored.
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We know that no action happens in a vacuum - our ethics and decision-making are driven by an understanding of the (often complicated) systems at play. We spend intellectual capital to understand the relationships between ourselves, our projects, and our environment. Our goal is to bring these systems into better balance and alignment.
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Every project is a promise - a responsibility to do right by our investors, our tenants, our communities, and our planet. We value these responsibilities evenly and take them seriously.
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We know what we are, we know who we are. It is easy to be idealistic, but empty promises are counterproductive to our mission. Consider this our value-based “sniff test”
Evan Reinhardt, Principal
Evan is a self-motivated professional, passionate about leveraging creative interventions in the built environment to enact progressive social change. A desire to use his skills and resources for good inform his “why”, while a decade+ of experience in operations and project management, as well as a Master’s of Real Estate Development + Design from UC Berkeley, are the keys to his “how”. He leans on a balance between soft skills like communication, grit, and creative problem-solving, and hard skills like financial modeling, construction management, and design to successfully execute at the project level.
Evan is an avid trail runner, ultramarathoner, and budding mountaineer. His connection to natural places and the outdoors grounds his personal philosophy and drives his motivation to build better, more sustainable, and more connected places.
We acknowledge that no changes to the built environment come without a cost. That’s why we commit 1% of annual revenues, or 10% of net profits, whichever is greater, to our payback fund.
50% of the fund will go towards offsetting our internal carbon emissions, with any remainder invested in conservation initiatives - a gesture of gratitude to the land and systems that sustain us.
50% of the fund will go to local organizations in the communities of which we are a part - an acknowledgment of the social capital that our projects build upon.
All investments will be tracked and published on an annual basis.