We connect local residents, builders, designers, lenders, and entrepreneurs who want to improve Kansas City one small project at a time.
What We Do
Monthly Gatherings
Learn directly from local developers, lenders, architects, builders, planners, and business owners.
Real Project Case Studies
We discuss actual Kansas City projects — including financing, zoning, design, construction, and lessons learned.
Skill Building
Topics include pro formas, adaptive reuse, zoning, incentives, financing, historic rehab, and incremental development strategies.
Community Connections
Meet people actively working to improve neighborhoods across Kansas City.
PEOPLE WHO CARE
People who see empty buildings and think, “how is that still sitting there?” but aren’t sure what can be done to address it.
Who Attends Small Developers of KC?
PEOPLE WITH EXPERIENCE
Small business owners, neighborhood leaders, planners, lenders, and builders who want to do more meaningful work, but don’t know where to start.
PEOPLE WHO INFLUENCE
Community advocates, economic development professionals, and elected officials who’ve learned that policy change alone doesn’t create projects — people do.
Stay in the Loop
About Small Developers of KC
Small Developers of KC was founded in 2018 by urban planner Abby Newsham. Our coalition facilitates monthly meetings to share real experiences of those engaged in small-scale and incremental development. Our format is intentionally simple, and open to all. We gather in-person each month at PH Coffee, with no membership or entry fee. People come when they can. Some attend regularly, some drop in when a topic grabs their attention. Each meeting centers on real stories from real people who are working in and around the world of small-scale and incremental development. Sometimes it’s about a building, sometimes it’s about financing, sometimes it’s about mistakes that can be avoided. Our goal is to build a shared understanding of how these projects can work, and to hopefully empower relationships that lead to bottom-up neighborhood reinvestment.
