Why We Exist
The housing system is broken.
We're here to fix it.
The Problem
Affordable housing serves families earning up to 60% of Area Median Income. Market-rate housing assumes you can afford 30% of a much higher income.
What about everyone in between?
Teachers earning $45,000. Nurses making $65,000. First responders at $55,000. Small business employees. Recent college graduates. Single parents working full-time.
They make too much to qualify for affordable housing. They make too little to afford market rate without severe cost burden.
And they're falling through the cracks by the thousands.
The Affordable Housing Cliff
Here's what happens when the system "works":
A family of four earns $49,000 - just under the 60% AMI threshold. They qualify for affordable housing at $900/month.
They get a modest raise to $52,000. Suddenly they're "too wealthy" for affordable housing. They have 90 days to move.
Where do they go?
Market-rate apartments run $1,500-1,800/month. Their raise was $3,000/year before taxes - about $1,800 after. The rent increase costs them $7,200/year.
They're literally worse off for earning more.
This isn't a policy failure. It's policy design that punishes upward mobility and traps families in economic precarity.
Why Traditional Development Can't Solve This
Market-rate developers won't build for 60-120% AMI.
The returns aren't high enough.
Affordable housing developers are locked into 60% AMI and below by funding restrictions.
Nobody's building for the middle.
And the middle is collapsing.
The Middle Housing Crisis
The gap between affordable housing and market rate isn't just a number on a spreadsheet. It's:
Essential workers commuting 60+ minutes because they can't afford to live in the communities they serve
Young professionals leaving the region for cities where the math actually works
Working families spending 40-50% of income on housing, with nothing left for emergencies, childcare, or savings
Communities hollowing out as the people who make them function are priced out
Economic mobility stalling because there's no pathway from subsidized housing to homeownership
Our Solution
Pivot Forward Properties exists to close that gap.
We develop housing across the full spectrum - from deeply affordable units at 30% AMI to middle housing serving working families at 60-120% AMI.
How we do it differently:
Zero-debt financing models that don't require decades of debt service or impossible cash flow
Grant-stacked capital structures that layer federal, state, and foundation funding to serve deeper affordability
Evidence-based site selection that builds in communities experiencing disinvestment, not displacement
Transparent financial modeling that proves serving "unbuildable" income ranges is actually possible
Community-first development that strengthens rather than replaces existing neighborhood fabric
Our Philosophy
We believe:
→ Housing is infrastructure, not investment property
→ Working families shouldn't be punished for earning more
→ Essential workers deserve to live in the communities they serve
→ Economic mobility requires a housing pathway that doesn't have 10-foot gaps
→ Doing good and penciling projects aren't mutually exclusive
Why Now
The housing crisis isn't getting better.
It's accelerating.
Short-term rentals are removing units from the long-term market.
Market-rate rents keep climbing.
Affordable housing waitlists stretch into years.
The middle keeps getting squeezed.
Every day we wait, more families fall through the cracks.
We're not waiting for policy to catch up.
We're not waiting for the market to correct itself.
We're not waiting for someone else to solve this.
We're building the solution now.
What Success Looks Like
A teacher earning $45,000 can afford to live in the school district where they teach.
A nurse making $65,000 doesn't spend 40% of income on rent with nothing left for savings.
A family that "graduates" from affordable housing has somewhere to go that isn't market rate at $1,800/month.
A community retains the essential workers, young professionals, and working families who make it function.
A region builds economic stability instead of watching its workforce commute from an hour away or leave entirely.
Our Commitment
Pivot Forward Properties commits to:
Transparency - We share our financial models, our lessons learned, our failures and successes. Because housing justice requires demystifying how development actually works.
Innovation - We prove that zero-debt models work, that serving 30% AMI is possible, that middle housing can pencil. Because "that's how it's always been done" isn't good enough.
Community - We build in partnership with neighborhoods, not despite them. We develop where we're needed, not where it's easiest.
Impact - Every unit we build is housing for someone the market abandoned. Every project proves a different approach is possible.
This Is Why We Exist
Not to make the highest returns.
Not to build the most units.
Not to win awards or acclaim.
To prove that housing everyone - from 30% AMI to 120% AMI - is actually possible.
To eliminate the cliffs, close the gaps, and build the missing rungs in the housing ladder.
To disrupt a system that's failing millions of working families.
Because housing justice doesn't happen by accident.
It happens when developers stop accepting the status quo and start building for everyone the market has failed.
