Stories — Incremental Development Alliance

502 Deering Center by the Lachmans in Portland, ME

There’s hardly a Main Street in the world that couldn’t use another graceful, elegant three-story mixed-used building: you know, like we used to build. I recently had the chance to sit down with Kiya and Denis Lachman to talk about their new building, 502 Deering Center, in Portland, Maine.

502 Deering Center is a the epitome of a polite, handsome building that does its job well, providing three on-street retail spaces and six upper story apartments. But how did that building get built, on a street which hadn’t had a new building like that in many years? What was the financing like? How did the neighbors feel about a new three-story building?

ALUMNI PROJECTSIncDev AllianceApril 16, 2026Comment

Cary Westerbeck’s Fir Street Flats

Washington architect Cary Westerbeck spent most of his life in suburbia, far from anything dense or walkable.

“I didn’t even realize how important walkability was to me until later in life. And it’s funny, because I did embrace that in college. It was awesome to walk to clubs and shows and all the stuff you do when you’re 20,” he laughs. “When I was introduced to the concept of walkability, I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve done that, and I loved it!’”

Newly energized to invest in his neighborhood in the center of Bothell, WA, Cary used a standard 30-year mortgage to buy a .06 acre property in April 2014. He moved his family into the existing building in 2015 and set out to become a developer. But he quickly realized that he had a lot to learn.

ALUMNI PROJECTSIncDev AllianceApril 16, 2026Comment

Missing Middle Housing in Chattanooga

Working with the Lyndhurst Foundation and Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE), we are paving the way for great infill development in Chattanooga. The goal is to make it easier to build multi-unit properties that improve their neighborhoods and allow the city to adapt to changing housing needs while honoring the best of Chattanooga’s built heritage.

OUR WORKSarah KingMarch 12, 2026

Zoning

By: Chris Allen

Zoning is one of the most powerful tools local governments use to shape housing, transportation, public finance, neighborhood life, and local economic opportunity. At its best, zoning provides a clear and predictable framework for good development. It helps neighbors, builders, city staff, and public officials understand what can be built, where it can be built, and what standards apply. At its worst, zoning becomes a system for freezing communities in place, separating compatible uses, mandating expensive development patterns, and making normal neighborhood evolution illegal.

IncDev PositionChris AllenMarch 2, 2026Comment

Missing Middle Housing

By: Chris Allen

Missing Middle Housing is the range of house-scale, multi-unit housing that sits between detached single-family homes and large apartment buildings. It includes duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottage courts, courtyard apartments, townhouses, live-work buildings, and small apartment buildings. The term was coined by Daniel Parolek of Opticos Design to describe housing types that are “compatible in scale with detached single-family homes” while providing more choices in walkable neighborhoods.

IncDev PositionChris AllenFebruary 2, 2026Comment

Accessory Dwelling Units

By: Chris Allen

Accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, are one of the most practical first steps a community can take toward a more incremental, affordable, and adaptable housing system. An ADU is a small, independent home located on the same lot as a primary residence. It may be a backyard cottage, garage apartment, basement apartment, internal suite, or small addition.

IncDev PositionChris AllenJanuary 2, 2026Comment

Erin Claussen’s Hotel Royal

IncDev alumna Erin Claussen, Principal and Owner at Toledo Revival, is starting construction on the Hotel Royal in Toledo, OH in April. The property is 8,000 square feet of rehabilitated, mixed-use space in Toledo's Middlegounds neighborhood and contains 2,900 square feet of commercial space and three two-bedroom apartments. From Erin: "I attended a workshop in Memphis in 2017, and the info that I took home from there was so helpful, in addition to what I've gleaned from the small developer [Facebook] group. We are finalizing construction documents, have a tenant for our entire commercial space, and are currently seeking investors to secure construction loans."

ALUMNI PROJECTSIncDev AllianceMarch 6, 2024Comment

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