Imagine a world where the dream of owning a home, once a cornerstone of the American Dream, is slipping away. Today, many families find themselves caught in a cycle where the opportunity to build wealth for future generations is disappearing right before our eyes. It's a troubling trend that begs the question: Are we making the American Dream impossible for the next generation?
Today’s guest on The Bottom-Up Revolution podcast is Jenifer Acosta, a community revitalizer and incremental developer working in the Tri-Cities region of Michigan, near the shores of Lake Huron. Her focus is on adaptive reuse projects—taking historic structures like old bank and newspaper buildings and turning them into updated housing and commercial spaces. She finds that sweet spot between preserving history while also modernizing and allowing these old buildings to take on new life so they can last another hundred years, even as the needs of a community change.
William Zank has a conversation with Jenifer Acosta, founder and President of Jenifer Acosta Development. Building dynamic communities and creating a sense of place are just two of Jen’s favorite things. Combine them and add a dash of determination, and you have one of the region’s most sought-after “matchmakers” in real estate.
Downtown Restaurant Investments, Jenifer Acosta Development and Mission Partners are launching a new beer garden and food truck park called Drift Shoreside Beer Garden located at 1019 N. Water St. in Bay City.
You know your downtown is hiding them everywhere. No need to be ashamed. Mine is too. It can be hard enough to get an owner to make the windows look simply presentable from the street view and here I am asking you to do more.
It’s time to get serious about the levels above your Main Street.
BAY CITY, MI -- Jenifer Acosta successfully brought a century-old newspaper building back to life and she's currently in the middle of revitalizing a 125-year-old bank building in downtown Bay City.
Pending environmental approvals from the state, the developer now has plans for new construction on historic Center Avenue
I had an hour between meetings last year and decided to take a drive through Bay City’s Center Avenue Historic District. In particular, I was thinking of developing a small-scale infill project and wanted it to be in close proximity to downtown and other projects I’ve worked on.
I’ve driven down Center Ave countless times, but that day this vacant parcel with concrete slabs jumped out at me. It’s located at the corner of Center and Sherman. A large 100’ x 100’ parcel with the unsightly remains of a gas/auto shop. It’s walkable to Downtown Bay City, about a half a mile away. I called the realtor listed on it’s for sale sign and started digging for information. It has been for sale for 10 years.
SAGINAW, MI -- A group of real estate investors are taking the first steps to examine the historic Bearinger Fireproof Building for redevelopment.
Developer Jenifer Acosta, who made her mark in Bay City renovating the old Bay City Times building into luxury apartments, is proposing the Saginaw building at 126 N. Franklin be redeveloped into a 76-room boutique hotel with 4,000-square-feet of restaurant and commercial space.
Company: Jenifer Acosta Development
Title: Real estate developer
Age: 34
Years in development/real estate: Two
Education: Southern Illinois University, undergraduate; University of Miami, master's; New York University, graduate certificate in real estate development.
Years after Susan Harvey was hired in the mid-1990s to lead the Canton Township office of Ashley Capital, a New York City-based industrial and warehouse space powerhouse, the man who had brought her on board confided the one concern he had at the time: That she was "too nice" to be successful in the male-dominated real estate development industry.
She's proven him wrong.
I have been asked this question a lot lately. Over the last two months, I have had the pleasure of speaking to three classes at Saginaw Valley State University and a Bay Area Chamber Leadership class. By the way, whenever I have these opportunities, I’m always impressed by the level of talent and driven individuals we have in the region.
I am an army of one. A single member Limited Liability Corporation. However, I am also part of a property management firm and consult for a couple of badass companies. In addition to the structure of what I do, my work keeps me regularly engaged with the ABCs (architects, bankers, and contractors) and then some.
Lately, two things are constantly reoccurring in my life: People are asking me how they can invest in development and I keep receiving ads from Ellevest on Instagram.
Ellevest is a service that “promises to take my money and invests it for me in businesses and real estate investment trusts for a fee, giving me a return in line with markets ... “ Blah, blah, blah.
Oh, wow! So I can ship my money off to invest in a toothpaste company or 10 other far-away things and then pay someone to tell me how they’re doing? Will I ever get dividends?
