The Regenerative Real Estate Podcast
A show that explores how land, capital, and community come together in practice.
Hosted by Neal Collins, the show features conversations with landowners, developers, investors, and practitioners navigating the real-world challenges of regenerative development, including financing, governance, land stewardship, and long-term value creation.
Rather than focusing on theory or trends, the podcast examines the tradeoffs, constraints, and decisions that determine whether regenerative projects actually endure.
The Regenerative Real Estate Podcast
Community Land Trusts with Julie Brunner
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Julie Brunner is the housing director at OPAL, a community land trust on Orcas Island in Washington state. Julie has worked in the field of affordable housing since the mid-90s and today OPAL is responsible for housing 200 families on an island with a population of just 5,000. Over the years, both through hot and cold real estate markets, they've found innovative ways to finance and offer housing, both through home ownership and renting.
Julie and show host Neal discuss the mechanics of community land trusts, the huge benefits to those housed through the program, and the important differences between offering properties to own and to rent. A former economics major, Julie explains how America's housing crisis is not simply a supply issue and she details how OPAL has managed to offer financial security to people on an island with some of Washington's highest property values and lowest wages. To learn more about her work, check out the OPAL website as well as the Grounded Solutions Network, where she teaches courses on community land trusts.
———————
The Regenerative Real Estate Podcast is an independent show exploring the people, projects, and capital reshaping how land gets used and communities get built. Two organizations grew directly out of this work, and they're worth knowing:
Hamlet Capital finances and advises on projects that integrate agriculture and conservation with mixed-use development. If you're building one or looking to invest, let's talk.
Latitude is a real estate brokerage representing sanctuary properties rooted in nature, beauty, and meaningful living.