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The Housing Solution Hidden in Plain Sight
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When's the last time you knocked on a stranger's door to ask for something? For most people, the answer is probably never—or at least not since Halloween as a kid. But Cecily King is building Kipling Development this way, sourcing deals by networking in underserved communities and connecting with retiring landlords.
Kipling bridges the gap between subsidized low-income housing and luxury market-rate developments. The firm specializes in acquiring and remodeling naturally occurring affordable housing, which are properties that serve middle-income earners, such as teachers, healthcare workers, and young professionals. In other words, the demographic that’s often priced out of both ends of the housing spectrum.
In this episode, Cecily outlines how her approach defies traditional development wisdom. She focuses on thoughtful remodeling over new construction, relationship-building over institutional marketing, and community stewardship over maximizing profit. From her background as a structural engineer to her current role acquiring properties like Trumbull Terrace, a 28-unit development in Detroit, Cecily demonstrates how targeted preservation can address America's missing middle-income housing crisis.
What emerges from Cecily's experience is a fundamental challenge facing the industry. Most rental housing in America is owned by individual families and small partnerships, not corporations. Yet the capital needed to maintain these properties often flows only to institutional players. Her success in navigating this disconnect reveals both the barriers and breakthroughs that define community-level housing preservation.
Episode Outline
(02:34) Cecily’s evolution from structural engineer to decision-maker in real estate
(06:01) Examples of how infrastructure creates lasting housing inequality across American cities
(10:00) Serving the "missing middle" that's priced out of both affordable and luxury housing
(18:37) Acquiring Trumbull Terrace, a half-finished renovation in Detroit's core
(24:10) Why acquisition beats new construction for managing risk and tariff volatility
(32:33) Relationship-building strategies to source deals off-market
(37:15) Stacking public financing from HUD programs and local tax incentives
(41:47) Raising private capital and scaling from friends-and-family to institutional investors
Additional Resources
Documentary - Back to Paradise: Detroit’s Historic District Reborn
New York Times - Black and Latino Real Estate Developers Struggle to Get Funding
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
Connect with Cecily
Connect on LinkedIn
Learn more about Kipling Development
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