We’ve all got one: that one building in your neighborhood that you know could really be something great. Maybe it’s a vacant commercial space that would make the perfect neighborhood grocery if it just got a little love. Perhaps it’s a falling-down triplex that would make for much-needed missing middle housing if it just got brought back up to code. Maybe it’s even got a business in it already that you know, with just a little push, could expand into something amazing.

You care about this building. You know this building could be exactly the kind of small step your neighborhood needs to get stronger.

But are you really ready to put in an offer, take out a mortgage, roll up your sleeves and get to work?

Here’s the thing about neighborhood investment: for every would-be developer who’s eager to pick up a sledgehammer and go all Extreme-Makeover on that corner building with good bones, there are probably dozens more who care about their place but don’t want to personally get into the development game. And then there are the dozens who would jump into the game, but don’t have anywhere near the money they’d need for the down payment. Or they have the down payment, but the building needs a lot of work and rehab loans are hard to come by in their local banking landscape…Or they have all the money in the world, but nowhere near enough time to wrangle general contractors unless they quit their jobs—and by then, it makes more sense to skip the great corner building and scale up to a bigger project across town…Or, heck, they already own the building, and they’re just plain stuck on the brink of leveling up and adding an amenity that would really help their business thrive.



At Strong Towns, we talk a lot about the importance of making small bets in our communities. But when it comes to neighborhood real estate and neighborhood business, some of the highest-returning small projects languish in the land of missed opportunities—especially when it comes to cities in decline with high percentages of vacancies. Even if a plucky developer commits herself body and soul to bringing an empty building back to life, the building still might not appraise for a price the bank requires in order to write a mortgage and meet seller requirements. This all but ensures that the property will only be buyable cheaply and in cash by a moneyed private equity-backed developer with an eye to tear it down and rebuild (if the land underneath it is valuable) or a slumlord willing to extract the last bit of tenant wealth from the property before it crumbles (if it’s not.)



There’s gotta be a better way, right? If you’re a developer or a small business owner short on cash, what if your neighbors could pool their money and loan it to you, turning you into the lady with the magic all-cash offer and the Neighborhoods First-compatible mission to boot? If you’re a neighbor who wants to literally invest in your block, what if you could do it as easily as buying shares in a mutual fund—and get a better return than some anonymous stock while you’re at it?

MEET MAINVEST