The Regenerative Real Estate Podcast

The most important parts of a place are often the ones you never see. Beneath every building, streetscape, farm, neighborhood, and public space are the systems that decide whether a project can actually work: water supply, wastewater, stormwater, grading, energy, soils, roads, and the hidden infrastructure that either limits or enables what a place can become. In this episode, Neal sits down with Adam Mekies of Sherwood Design Engineers to explore why civil engineering deserves a front-row se...

In this episode, Neal sits down with Micha Mikailian, CEO of Geoship, to explore a bold attempt to reimagine housing at a time when affordability, resilience, and ecological design are more urgent than ever. Geoship is reviving Buckminster Fuller’s iconic geodesic dome—not as a nostalgic throwback, but as a scalable, bioceramic solution to today's housing and climate crises. But this episode goes deeper than domes. Neal and Micha unpack the organizational model behind Geoship, how the company...

In this episode, we explore the inspiring story of Rooted Northwest, an agrivillage in Arlington, Washington that is transforming a former dairy farm into a thriving co-housing community. With over 85% of the land conserved as pastures and forests, Rooted Northwest weaves together two villages and a collectively managed regenerative farm. Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring a visionary project like this to life—from assembling co-founders and shaping new county code...

This episode is a front-row seat at a masterclass in regenerative development. Mazyar Mortazavi, CEO of TAS Impact, joins us to share how his Toronto-based firm is redefining urban development by weaving community, sustainability, and impact into every project. Mazyar’s journey is deeply personal—the organization’s strategic plan is following his old master's thesis on anti-gentrification strategies. His interest in this was shaped by growing up in an immigrant family and witnessing firsthand...

Blake Jones is a founder of several cooperative enterprises, including Namaste Solar and Kachuwa Impact Fund. He’s a pioneer in his marrying of the cooperative model and impact investing. Kachuwa Impact Fund is democratically owned and operated by its members. They invest in companies that have a positive impact on the environment and society, and real estate that does the same—such as organic farms and affordable housing. They invest in Main Street as opposed to Wall Street, and impact is th...

Jenny Andersson is a regenerative strategist and educator, and the founder of the Really Regenerative Centre in the UK. With over 30 years of experience working alongside brands, organizations, and communities to inspire sustainable and regenerative initiatives, Jenny believes in "harnessing the power of the collective intelligence of organizations and communities to create visions for the future they want." She believes the world has undergone profound shifts—more billionaires than ever, mic...

Jacob Deva Racusin is a natural building designer, builder, and educator. He is a longtime leader in the field of sustainable building and the co-founder of New Frameworks, a worker-owned cooperative committed to a “kinder sort of building.” Using natural materials such as native hardwood, clay, and stone, they are developing data-driven and scalable solutions for cost-effective, non-toxic, plant based building that can substantially impact our urgent ecological and health crises. Starti...