CEDAM's 2025 Real Estate Development Boot Camp

CEDAM'S Real Estate Development Boot Camp is a five day training program designed to provide emerging developers with the foundational knowledge needed to develop affordable housing in Michigan. We partner with experienced developers, CDFIs, investors, municipal leaders, government agencies, and other stakeholders from across the state to discuss practical applications of this work and help participants create important connections.

Boot Camp includes a robust curriculum, covering a history of community development, development team & process, pro forma development, working with financial institutions, funding sources and programs, putting together a capital stack, and more. The experience will include classroom style education, case studies, panel discussions, tours of developments, and opportunities for the participants to work on their own projects while engaging with potential partners. The program wraps up with participant presentations of their potential project to our funding panel.

We host this training twice a year, in both a rural and urban Michigan community.

We welcome anyone to register for this training who is interested in understanding the development process, however, the training curriculum is geared toward helping participants move their community-focused real estate development projects forward. We encourage all participants to bring a potential project (whether it be a potential site or building, or even just an idea) to the training.

Our target audience is:

• Community members who are interested in revitalizing their community through small-scale development projects
• Nonprofit housing development staff who may be seeking to actualize a range of housing and community development projects utilizing LIHTC or other sources
• Our secondary audience is: City staff officials, community partners, foundations, or others who may be involved in the development process in some capacity

Whether you are new to the field or need a refresher on the basics, this training is for you! Those who join the training and do not have a potential project will have the opportunity to collaborate with those who do when we apply our learning through a final project pitch to funders.

This is a fast-paced, hands-on training program. Because capacity is limited for the training and demand is high, registrants must commit to being active participants and be available to attend the training in its entirety.