In an industry focused on dollars and square feet, Jim’s approach to real estate is measured in impact.  As a built environment entrepreneur, he focuses on real estate development as a vehicle to create positive change and environments for people to thrive.   His infill projects have won national and local awards for their innovation, creativity and contextually responsive approach.  

Over a decade ago Jim launched the Small Scale Developer’s Forum (SSDF) as a way to elevate the visibility and capacity of entrepreneurial real estate developers working to build community, not commodity.  The projects and people the Forum brought together led to Building Small: A Toolkit for Real Estate Entrepreneurs, Civic Leaders and Great Communities; published in 2021 by the Urban Land Institute (ULI).  The book is now used widely in emerging developer and graduate school programs to train real estate entrepreneurs to think beyond the spreadsheet.

An active member of ULI since 1993, Jim played early advocacy roles in many of ULI’s pioneering efforts, serving as an instructor and/or author for subjects such as Sustainable Community Design, Making Mixed Use work, Resilience Across the Rural to Urban Transect, and recently Small Scale Incremental Development.  

Trained as a landscape architect at the University of Idaho, Jim went on to receive a Masters in Real Estate Development from MIT.   His work focused on the importance of smaller scale development was recognized in 2025 with MIT’s Spaulding Award – given to honor outstanding professional achievements by MIT CRE alumni, “whose work in the real estate industry has enriched the profession and whose community involvement has been marked by distinguished service or leadership.”

Jim lives in Healdsburg, CA the food and wine epicenter of Sonoma County, with his wife, daschshund and the everyday challenges that come from owning and running a boutique coworking space.