Go Cultivate! - SoundSage

We’ve talked about the value of small investments on this podcast before, and in this episode we sit down with someone whose name is synonymous with small, incremental development—Monte Anderson, CEO of Options Real Estate. Monte is a developer, small-business booster, and co-founder of the Incremental Development Alliance.

In part one of this discussion, we talk about the ways Monte is trying to help communities build wealth one incremental development at a time, how small development can address affordable housing needs, the importance of finding a low-risk entry point for people who want to own their own business, and much more.

In this episode:

How desperation got Monte into the business of small, incremental

development [4:00] * Why committing to a place or a purpose “changes all the rules” [7:00] * Monte’s early work in Duncanville, TX, and how the City responded to

big developers and businesses refusing to come to town [7:55] * How small developments can provide viable affordable housing – and

how they compare to large apartment buildings [10:45] * How the Incremental Development Alliance is helping local people own

and operate their own buildings [15:15] * Small doesn’t mean low-quality [20:00] * Learning as you go: why finding a low-risk entry point is essential

for building discipline and understanding business—and not going

bankrupt while doing it [22:10] * How the retail apocalypse and the internet are shaping the future of

small towns [24:10] * How a vacated shopping center became the thriving DeSoto Market Place

retail incubator (and did not become a dollar store) [26:40] * Partnerships vs. incentives [29:40] * Mentorships for tenants [31:20] * The importance of shaking up the outside of a repurposed strip center

or big box [34:20] * Why Monte tends to prefer shop owners in who physically make

something [37:10] * Tyler Station – how an old manufacturing facility was turned back

into a “creative village” and pillar of the neighborhood * How to encourage collaboration in a shared creative space [46:30] * Realizing that social interaction keeps us human [50:00] * The value of social integration in a living space [52:50]

Links to things discussed in this episode:

Small Developers/Builders Facebook group
Incremental Development Alliance