Jenifer Acosta
Community Development. economic development. Real Estate Development.
Jenifer Acosta is a solutions-minded community developer known for redeveloping historic buildings and extensive work driving property and downtown revitalization. With a heart for saving underutilized relics, she bridges old and new, building (and often rebuilding) dynamic communities that evoke a strong sense of place.
Since 2016, she has driven over $31+ million in real estate development projects in the Great Lakes Bay Region, and catalyzed countless more as a result.
She believes that the best solutions are created by local people, with local resources, with local pride in mind and invests in projects that hit a triple-bottom line of community connection, environmental impact and fiscal responsibility.
She has a strong passion for helping first-time developers launch their commercial vision and teaches small-scale real estate development to doers, bootstrappers and community advocates internationally.
Jenifer earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern Illinois University and a master’s degree in international administration and sustainable development from the University of Miami. She also holds a graduate certificate in real estate development from New York University.
Jenifer’s projects have received numerous awards and recognition for historic preservation and economic development.
Community Advancement
Incremental Development Alliance | Faculty
Infuse Great Lakes Bay | President
The Power of Cute | Lady Developers
Housing Task Force, Midland
Professional Affiliations
Century 21 Midland | Commercial Agent
Midland Center for the Arts | Board Secretary
Michigan Municipal League Foundation | Board Member
Saginaw Valley State University Foundation | Board Member
Midland Area Community Foundation | Impact Investment
Congress for New Urbanism | CNU - Accredited
Urban Land Institute & ULI MIchigan | Member
Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance | Ambassador 2015
ULI Michigan Local Product Council | Housing & Community Development Programming Co-Chair
ULI Michigan Women’s Leadership Initiative | Member & Co-Chair Bay City Build Up Breakfast Club
Accolades and Awards
MHPN 2020 Preservation Building Award | “The Legacy” | Bay City
Women in Real Estate to Watch | Crain’s Detroit Business | 2018
RUBY Award | 1st State Bank | Recipient 2017
2017 Tax Credit Project Award | The Times Lofts | The Michigan Historic Preservation Network
2020 Building Award, Michigan Historic Preservation Network: The Legacy
“I don’t do basic. I don’t do dropped ceilings. I don’t do cookie-cutter construction.
What I do is revitalize communities – and I do it by preserving historic buildings, building high quality housing and untangling the red tape that can get in the way of community development.
As a real estate development professional, I’m deeply dedicated to creating meaningful spaces that have character and quality. As a community development consultant, I’m dedicated to creating places and experiences that bring people together. That’s why I’m passionate about resurrecting historic buildings and neighborhoods, with an eye on energy efficiency and sustainability.
I love getting my hands dirty inside old buildings, finding the highest and best use of a building long-forgotten, unearthing architectural treasures and sharing them with folks who value them as much as I do. Why? Because when historic character intersects with timeless elegance and community context, you’ve created something special. And we’re all better because of it.
New construction and the redevelopment of infill properties and brownfield sites is as much a passion. Strategizing the highest and best use of a property that deserves to be transformed from a vacant is needed in communities across Michigan. Infill redevelopment can be momentous in rebuilding neighborhoods and downtowns.
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