Let’s Break the Mold together!!!

Black Sailboat is dedicated to serving our communities by generating fresh civic ways to evolve how we live, build, and grow.

Systems Housing, is our mission.

We believe housing should…

  • be Deeply Affordable

  • be Civic Driven

  • Approached as Infrastructure

  • Attract & Feed Resources Back into the Community

  • be Supported by Key Anchor Institutions

All across our communities, lay underutilized vacant structures, and communities searching for someone to help.

The Challenges

  • The financial Risk is too damn high!

  • How do we get a market analysis to work in a community of 800.

  • Fortified programs, are blocking progress and innovation all over. (No flexibility, no room for listing to others who are on the outside)

  • Modern development tools seem to mostly concentrate poverty. (Only focused on families of lowest incomes, but by grouping them together)

  • Most of us, like you & me, individually have no real authority to influence the parties who hold Our Communities’ Capital, to think outside the box.

  • We are focused on blaming and naming issues as opposed to new approaches

  • Every community who is grinding, and succeeding to make these projects work, work in silos, with solutions that are rare and unique to that project (They call this The Stack).

Welcome to the 1913. We acquired this vacant High School after being approached & invited into Walnut to be part of the community. And damn, do we love our neighborhood,

We have worked with the community of Walnut, Iowa for the last three years, trying sooo hard, to use the existing State of Iowa infrastructure and tools to grow our amazing tight knit community, but to no avail.

So its time for plan B. And if think this was just a knee jerk reaction, nah, that’s why we already have plans for plan B.

We need your help, If you would like to support the 1913 Project and support the development of this new approach to Housing, please support.

We appreciate you, and if you are fighting similar battles in your community, hit us up, you are not alone. Together we are stronger!

Support Systems Housing

What Is Systems Housing

  • Systems Housing is a mixed use housing building

  • It combines:

    • Below Market Rate Housing

    • Local Commercial Partner spaces

    • Shared community infrastructure

  • Designed to support long term community and regional needs

Systems Housing collects three rent types:

1) “Reserved” Systems Housing Units

  • Used for recruiting and retaining workers the region needs

  • Housing Units reserved for essential workers and system aligned residents

  • Leased through partner agreements, not individual market rents

  • These units are leased and paid for by (Institutional Partners)

  • Short to Medium term leases

Essential worker types could include:

  • Teachers and education staff

  • Healthcare workers and caregivers

  • Electricians, plumbers, and skilled trades

  • Food system workers

  • Childcare providers

  • Municipal and public service workers

  • Local business operators

  • Other roles identified by the region

The Garden Region helps decide which roles are most desired and necessary for their goals and dreams.

Institutional Partners could include:

  • School districts

  • Healthcare providers

  • Trade organizations or unions (e.g., electricians, plumbers)

  • Public agencies (This one could be tricky to figure out)

  • Businesses and Corporations (Large Corporations already have a culture of providing housing for key staff)

  • Other regional institutions

Residents of The Garden Region help decide which roles are most desired and strategically which partners are invited to participate.

2) “Market Rate” Housing Units

  • Semi Conventional Leases, except intentionally below market rates rents

  • Low, stable rents

  • Open to anyone in the public, depending on availability

  • Long-term housing for community members

3) Ground Floor Partner Spaces

  • Commercial Spaces reserved for local serving civic institutional hubs

  • Partners are not pre decided

  • They are shaped by:

    • Engaging the Garden Region

      • IE, Genuine listening to neighbors of nearby towns

    • Identifying real community needs

    • Together, they decide:

      • What services they wish they had

      • What would be useful long-term

      • What the collective community will actually support and really wants

Common examples could include:

  • Food access

  • Education or workforce training (Community College or State Universities)

  • Incubator business spaces for young, I mean like 18 year old, entrepreneurs

  • Other locally identified services

Institutional Partners’, Systems Housing Investments

  • Direct investments into essential workforce needs

  • Bonus: 50% of their investment, is actually reinvested again back in to the community through the Garden Region Fund model.

Rent & Reinvestment

  • Again, Systems Housing collects three rent types:

    • Conventional Housing rents

    • Institutional Contracted leases for recruited workers

    • Commercial Partner spaces

Rents are then split intentionally:

50% (Private Sector Developer)

  • Owner still handles building operations, maintenance, and ownership costs

  • Yes, they only get half the rents, but…

    • Owner would end up fully paid off development.

    • Now they can now leverage development equity to build more Market rate and or Affordable Units and /or repair existing aging housing stock with standard development tools

  • Bonus: This is about the community - 50% of Developer Fee will also be directed towards the separate Garden Region nonprofit Community fund

  • Sorry ladies and gents, no 10/15 year Tax Deferments on these projects once they are rocking, We need to have our County’s back too, so we can keep our kiddos growing, our water flowing, and roads looking real nice!

50% (The Community)

  • 35% Directed into a separate Garden Region Nonprofit fund created to:

    • Hold the reinvestment rent funds, in an interest building account

    • Funds reinvested into planned Garden Region Initiatives, Programs, & Events

    • Ability to Respond to civic and regional needs, selected by Garden Region residents

  • 15% Directed into a separate Garden Region Endowment fund created to:

    • Insure alternative funds are available for Community Development activities in the future

    • After 5 Years, available to have additional Community Funds via Endowment portfolio earnings above corpus.

Role of the Fund

  • Stewards reinvested rents

  • Builds long-term reserves

  • Supports community serving programs

  • May hire Black Sailboat or other community partner to:

    • Maintain Civic Engagement around the Garden Region

    • Manage programs

    • Provide operational support

    • Coordinate partnerships

Why This Works

  • Reduces Risk for all parties involved

  • The building is paid off

  • Rents stay low and stable for the community

  • Rent returns are reinvested in the region

  • Housing supports people and services

  • Each project helps support ongoing growth

  • Developments still partner with Private Market, not fight against it.

  • Each Garden Region now has a special, continually invested in, endowment for future community initiatives.

  • A genuine way we can build in even our smallest communities.

  • Communities, especially the smallest are encouraged to band together

  • Gives us a way to build in our communities regardless of perceived Market demand

  • We hypothesis, a direct positive correlation to, increasing desire of younger generations towards selecting career paths that align to the more common specialized roles being sought out thought the country, offering Systems Housing. Waitlist would certainly be large.

Funding the Development

  • We fundraise private and public dollars, down to the individuals of the Garden Region and larger community.

  • Maybe a foundation, your county, your state, or finance authority can help, but this is about local empowerment (Our property and sales taxes can only take our communities so far)

  • It may take some time to raise these funds (This is a grass roots funding method)

  • Unless of course, any of the three foundations I admire most in the world, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, or Kresge Foundation, somehow find my silly website, vibe with the ideas, and decide they want to jump in and help bring this to life…well, that would be pretty magical.

  • And come on, we can’t leave out our tech loving friends either. You all support and do amazing work in this world. Regardless if we hear from you or not, I just want to publicly say thank you for protecting and investing in humanity all across our world.

  • If there really is a little extra future money floating around up there, Goole, Microsoft Philanthropies, or Salseforce throw some of that stardust this way and help us change the game.

    We only need about 5.8 million to kick this one off to show proof of concept.

  • And hey, if you happen to know anyone who finds themselves in those rooms…send this their way. I’m always down for a real, curious, hopeful and fun conversation.

  • And for all my brothers & sisters out there crushing it and giving your best in your communities, never forget, The Only Bad Ask Is No Ask.

One-Sentence Summary

Systems Housing partners with the Community First, & uses stable rents to support essential workers, local services, and long-term community needs, guided by the Garden Region’s collective desire & dreams.

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