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Community-Led Infill Development
Community-Led Infill Development is a place-based approach to revitalizing underutilized spaces through the leadership of local residents. Rooted in participatory planning and cultural stewardship, Community-Led Infill Development transforms vacant lots into resilient, inclusive spaces that honor local identity while preserving existing investments. In environmental justice neighborhoods, this model centers equity by ensuring that development reflects community priorities, cultural preservation, climate resiliency, energy efficiency, and aging in place.
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Modeled after New York City, with Chicago-style alleys, Gary’s original street grid and compact urban design make it inherently walkable, an asset that’s key to rebuilding community connections, economic vitality, and environmental resilience. These “good bones” offer a rare opportunity: to restore not just buildings, but belonging. By embracing its walkable design, the city can reconnect people to place and to each other, rebuilding trust and shared identity.
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In our neighborhoods, classical architectural aesthetics, brick facades, front porches, rhythmic setbacks, and human-scaled proportions reflect intentional engagement. Our intent is to not just preserve these visual cues, we are reactivating them as a design language for new construction that honors place, memory, and belonging. We embrace classical forms not just out of nostalgia, but as a strategy for placemaking and placekeeping. These aesthetics foster familiarity, dignity, and continuity in neighborhoods long disrupted by disinvestment. They help legacy homes feel celebrated, not ignored. They help new homes feel rooted, not imposed.
Our construction integrates green infrastructure, passive design, and renewable energy systems to reduce environmental impact and enhance long-term affordability. By incorporating age-friendly amenities, such as accessible pathways, multi-generational housing options, and proximity to essential services, this approach supports lifelong residency and intergenerational stability.​
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​Infill development revitalizes neighborhoods by making smart use of existing infrastructure and preserving existing investments. Infill construction avoids costly new infrastructure, like roads, sewers, and utilities, saving up to 50% in upfront costs. This opens neighborhoods to affordable investment opportunities, and turns gaps into growth.​
Small Scale Commercial
Small-scale commercial spaces are the heartbeat of resilient urban economies. These adaptable storefronts, studios, and pop-ups offer low-barrier entry for entrepreneurs, foster local ownership, and respond quickly to shifting community needs. Their scale buffers neighborhoods against economic shocks by diversifying income streams and making it easier to keep spaces activated. They are not just places of business, they are catalysts for connection, creativity, and inclusive growth.
Single-Family Residential
Gary’s rich architectural heritage, spanning Tudor Revival, Gothic Revival, Prairie Style, Art Deco, and Mid-Century Modern, tells a story of civic pride, craftsmanship, and cultural ambition. Preserving and echoing these styles in new neighborhood construction honors that legacy while reinforcing a sense of place.
Missing Middle
Reintroducing missing middle housing like duplexes, triplexes, courtyard apartments, and live-work units restores a vital layer of affordability, diversity, and walkability in neighborhoods. This scale of construction supports density without displacement, lowers development costs, and fosters adaptability and resilience.
