Kirk Sykes is Managing Director of Accordia Partners, a Boston-based real estate investment and development company. Accordia develops large public-private real estate projects. Kirk was previously the head of Urban Strategy America Fund, perhaps one of the first urban real estate equity funds focused on the triple bottom line. And that brings us to this podcast.  Kirk has had a highly successful career, but that is not enough for him.  He has always given back, and for Kirk that means helping the Black community he is part of access capital and investment opportunities that have his ..read more

Rich Rogers is an urban planner and attorney in Buffalo, New York. In his practice he focuses on tax credit financing and on creative problem-solving to help public and private sector projects work from concept into financing and implementation.  Rich is also a real estate developer, with a project in lease-up on Buffalo’s main street.  There he’s put his knowledge to good use, converting a 30,000 s.f. Historic building into modern retail and affordable housing units, and employing every trick in his book to build his super-complicated capital stack, which of course, includes tax cre ..read more

Adriana Abizadeh is the executive director of the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT) in Philadelphia. You might wonder what that is and why it exists. Kensington was once known as the Workshop of the World with booming manufacturing and a well-employed neighborhood. Then, Kensington Avenue was a bustling local business corridor. Now there is a lack of economic investment and everything that comes with it.  58% of Kensington residents live below the federal poverty line and the average household annual income is just over $20,000. Formed in 2020, the trust is tasked with reclaiming control of ..read more

After a successful career in architecture and design in New York City, Mark Winkelman purchased a 300,000  s.f. historic Pajama factory. Once the largest pajama factory in the country, the buildings sat vacant in a small town in central Pennsylvania with a population of just 114,000   They set about filling it, one corner at a time, with a vision for an affordable and thriving creative hub. 16 years later, and  60% complete, the stunning buildings are coming back to life but there is still more to do.   What was Mark’s motivation?  And his thesis?  And how has it ..read more

It’s been 4 years since I first interviewed Lorenzo Perez and I love his work every bit as much as I did then. Lorenzo advocates for LOCAL community, culture and commerce in his real estate projects, and for crafting, artistic, one-of-a-kind environments and experiences.  He and his company, Venue, put that passion to work throughout the Metro Phoenix market. This approach helped them to weather the last four years, pandemic and all.  Lorenzo was about to open his first hotel project right after everyone was sent home … and yet.  Well, I’m not going to say more because that woul ..read more

Atif Qadir is a serial entrepreneur, but that’s not where he started. Trained as an architect and urban planner, Atif decided pretty early on that he wanted to work his way up the ladder, from servicing developers as an architect or builder, to being one!   So he started developing his own small properties, and as his frustrations with finding project financing grew, so did his entrepreneurial ideas.  He launched Commonplace, a fintech platform,  with a mind to create a marketplace for emerging developers and investors.  Dating for development projects. In amongst all ..read more

From Wall Street to mortgage banking to real estate developer. Joel Miller has focused his career with clarity and purpose. And now he’s taking it one step further by raising money for his next real estate project, through crowdfunding.    Joel wants to bring others up behind him.  He wants to give others the opportunities he’s been given. And one small way to do that is to provide an opportunity for everyone to invest in his latest project. Early on in his career, Joel realized that his goal to lead an organization might not happen if he waited for an opportunity.  So he m ..read more

Joyous disruption. This is Jonathan Dodson's goal with each and every real estate project he develops. Jonathan pivoted from an early career as a banker to real estate developer, aptly calling the firm he co-founded, Pivot Projects. He had developed an interest in urban neighborhoods and redevelopment initiatives, and when given an opportunity to co-partner on a project, he grabbed it. Now he leads the Pivot Team, navigating tough conversations and decisions to create the best outcomes for his teammates, partners and tenants. And for Jonathan, the best outcomes are not traditional ones.  ..read more

Lindsey Scannapieco is an urbanist and an artist in every sense of the word. While living and studying in the UK, Lindsey worked on projects such as activating an underutilized subterranean crossing alongside Westminster Council, supporting Tech Shop in their global expansion, and developing a community led design project that reconsiders traditional construction hoardings in South Kilburn. All of this led her to found Scout, an urban design and development practice that focuses on the activation of underutilized space. Not one to think little, Lindsey submitted a proposal to purchase a 340,00 ..read more

Liz Dunn is a real estate artist. After spending the early years of her career as a software developer at Microsoft, Liz made a hard pivot and launched her own Seattle company in a completely different field: real estate.    The last 20+ years have been filled with people and buildings for Liz. Of her 35 or so retail tenants, all are local and over half are minorities or women.  Fascinating names like Chophouse Row, the Agnes Lofts and Melrose Market label even more fascinating spaces. And then there is the Cloud Room.  It’s a Culture club, lounge and bar packaged as a cowo ..read more