Who is going to build the finer-grained Missing Middle housing, the small workspaces, the two and three story mixed use buildings that Municipalities and neighborhoods are looking for?  Will it be large development firms that see a 10,000 SF single story commercial building or 100 apartment units as a "small deal"?  Doubtful.  Very Doubtful, for the simple reason that large scale developers need large scale deals to support their operations.  They can't execute small deals effectively and they see a lot of opportunity cost in small deals.  "Why would I take on a 4 unit project when I can build 40 units or maybe even 400 units with about the same amount of brain damage?"

Monte Anderson keeps hearing from folks who want him to move to their town and develop there.  To his credit, Monte is determined to focus on the communities in the Southern Dallas Metro that he knows and cares about.  His advice for the people that want him to come to their town is that they need to find someone who is committed to their town and help that person develop --or become a developer themselves.

This is actually very pragmatic advice, because the big outfits are not coming.  Monte Anderson is a great guy, but he's not coming to your town either.  Who does that leave?  You (or someone a lot like you). Start small.  Learn the business.  Build a reliable team that cares about the place.  There is a growing network of support for small developers, some of them are just a few years ahead of you on the learning curve, but they will do whatever it takes to keep you from having to repeat their mistakes.

Consider what a small enterprise could accomplish in your town, not just he buildings you might renovate or build, but the local wealth you could create that stays in your neighborhood.  Think about the jobs that you could create in the trades, and in property management.  Think of the other folks in your neighborhood you could mentor, paying it forward once you have learned the business.  Real capacity for local and lasting economic development is hard to come by, but building the everyday buildings that people need, in a place that you care about will raise up more than walls and a roof.

I got a phone call today from Eric Brown, a colleague in Savannah.  Eric is a long time CNU member and member of the New Urban Guild. He said he would really try to make it to the Small Developer Boot Camp in Duncanville in August, Atlanta in October for sure.  He told me about the "missing tooth" sites he sees everyday in Savannah, the spots that just need one or two straightforward buildings to transform the block.  Eric has designed a lot of those "workhorse buildings" over the years.  I'm a big fan of his work as an Architect.

He said that he wants to start putting some of those buildings out as open source building types, similar to what David Kim and I have been doing with the 4F and the Single Stair Walk-up.  Eric recognizes that there is a big demand for incremental development if folks can work out the business model that lets them make a living working at a smaller, more local scale and he is stepping up to help them figure it out.

A bright spot in what had been a tough day.  So here's to Eric Brown, a real stand up guy.  If you see him at the Dallas or Atlanta Boot Camps, please buy him a beer.