Devon Zuegel

But I also think it's encouraging because once we do have enough examples and we get more and more every few years, there's now a few dozen of these across America. As we have more of these examples, the more conservative capital will be more interested in participating and say, oh, okay, we've seen this work now.

But I also think it's encouraging because once we do have enough examples and we get more and more every few years, there's now a few dozen of these across America. As we have more of these examples, the more conservative capital will be more interested in participating and say, oh, okay, we've seen this work now.

A lot of these small towns have been built throughout the American Southeast, places like Georgia, Florida, South Carolina. And there's now a growing community of practice of developers who build in this way. And there's starting to be understanding in that region. And more and more institutional capital is coming in. Right now in California, there's basically none.

A lot of these small towns have been built throughout the American Southeast, places like Georgia, Florida, South Carolina. And there's now a growing community of practice of developers who build in this way. And there's starting to be understanding in that region. And more and more institutional capital is coming in. Right now in California, there's basically none.

I mean, there's some debatable cases, but there's none that I would really put cleanly in the category. One that we've found really helpful when talking to investors and to our partners is this beautiful little town in Washington state called Seabrook. It's about two and a half hours from San Francisco. And I'm friends with the developer. His name is Casey.

I mean, there's some debatable cases, but there's none that I would really put cleanly in the category. One that we've found really helpful when talking to investors and to our partners is this beautiful little town in Washington state called Seabrook. It's about two and a half hours from San Francisco. And I'm friends with the developer. His name is Casey.

And it's been built over the last 20 years. And it's been a tremendous financial success. It's a place that a lot of people in Seattle go for vacation. And that's been a helpful one to have because Seattle and San Francisco have a lot more similarities than Atlanta or Birmingham, Alabama. And so being able to point to that and saying, hey, look, it worked in Washington.

And it's been built over the last 20 years. And it's been a tremendous financial success. It's a place that a lot of people in Seattle go for vacation. And that's been a helpful one to have because Seattle and San Francisco have a lot more similarities than Atlanta or Birmingham, Alabama. And so being able to point to that and saying, hey, look, it worked in Washington.

Maybe it can work in California. It's a slow and steady process. But I think as we develop more comps, more and more people will build in this way.

Maybe it can work in California. It's a slow and steady process. But I think as we develop more comps, more and more people will build in this way.

Probably the number one thing is something that we all learned in elementary school, but I've seen more examples of is the idea of show, don't tell. I have talked off a lot of my friends ears for years now about the benefits of walkability and being able to go and get a coffee in the morning and having your friends within a few minutes of your home.

Probably the number one thing is something that we all learned in elementary school, but I've seen more examples of is the idea of show, don't tell. I have talked off a lot of my friends ears for years now about the benefits of walkability and being able to go and get a coffee in the morning and having your friends within a few minutes of your home.

One of my friends in particular, and she'll know who she is when she's listening to this, I think has not really been sold on that for a very long time. And she says, okay, Devin. Okay, Devin, that's nice. But then when she and her family came and visited Edge Esmeralda last year, the pop-up village, she lived the lifestyle for that week that I had been describing to her for so long.

One of my friends in particular, and she'll know who she is when she's listening to this, I think has not really been sold on that for a very long time. And she says, okay, Devin. Okay, Devin, that's nice. But then when she and her family came and visited Edge Esmeralda last year, the pop-up village, she lived the lifestyle for that week that I had been describing to her for so long.

And a few days in, she was like, oh, I get it. I see why you've been talking about this for so long. This is great. And... On one hand, I kind of laughed because it was quite funny to see that. And I was really happy that it clicked for her at that moment.

And a few days in, she was like, oh, I get it. I see why you've been talking about this for so long. This is great. And... On one hand, I kind of laughed because it was quite funny to see that. And I was really happy that it clicked for her at that moment.

But on the other hand, I'm like, man, if I can't even explain this verbally to one of my closest friends, how could I possibly communicate it with other people? And so that's another reason why the pop-up is so useful, because it's been a way to bring people up to the place where we're actually building this community and the town where we're hosting in Healdsburg. It's not the same.

But on the other hand, I'm like, man, if I can't even explain this verbally to one of my closest friends, how could I possibly communicate it with other people? And so that's another reason why the pop-up is so useful, because it's been a way to bring people up to the place where we're actually building this community and the town where we're hosting in Healdsburg. It's not the same.

We're going to do things differently from Healdsburg to some degree, but on the spectrum of American cities, it's much closer to what we ultimately want to build than not. And so getting to just show people the lifestyle that we're trying to create and the types of values that we want people to have in this community has been huge.

We're going to do things differently from Healdsburg to some degree, but on the spectrum of American cities, it's much closer to what we ultimately want to build than not. And so getting to just show people the lifestyle that we're trying to create and the types of values that we want people to have in this community has been huge.