Our model
A workforce housing model built for public partners.
A better way to deliver workforce housing.
THE UPWARD DIFFERENCE
Private capital from our non-profit partners funds every project, so we move faster and structure programs around your needs, without waiting on grants, bonds, or procurement cycles.
From site design through construction to daily property management, we handle everything. Your team never has to become a real estate developer.
Communities can be structured so all operating expenses are expected to be covered by resident rents.
EXPLORATION
We start by understanding the workforce challenge, then work alongside your team to measure demand, evaluate feasibility, and determine whether a housing solution should move forward.
ALIGN
We meet with leadership to understand workforce challenges, housing needs, available sites, organizational priorities, and long-term goals.
LISTEN
Employee surveys and workshops help measure demand and identify preferences around rents, home types, locations, and amenities.
EVALUATE
Upward evaluates the site, market demand, development program, economics, infrastructure, and delivery strategy to determine whether a viable project can move forward.
VALIDATE
Before a project proceeds, the proposed structure and economics are reviewed with the public partner and its legal, financial, and other professional advisors.
A complete housing solution without building a new department to manage it.
Site evaluation
Entitlements
Infrastructure coordination
Public approvals
Architecture
Engineering
Home design
Amenities
Community planning
Preconstruction
Procurement
Construction management
Schedule
Quality oversight
Leasing
Property management
Resident experience
Long-term asset oversight
Upward communities are created specifically around the workforce needs of our public partners. Rather than relying solely on area median income (AMI) requirements or a general public lottery, the district or public employer establishes eligibility and priority guidelines for its workforce.
This allows the housing to function as a direct recruitment and retention benefit and gives the public partner meaningful control over who the community is intended to serve.
The primary commitment is a long-term triple-net lease for the community. That long-term commitment provides the stability needed to support the project's financing, development, and operation.
Upward and its partners handle the development and ongoing management of the community, while the public partner establishes workforce eligibility and priority guidelines and helps ensure the program remains aligned with its recruitment and retention goals.
Monthly updates on Upward Communities.