What makes an investment attractive?
An investor's goal most likely is to capture a profit, but what else?
What about improving community or impacting the future?
Here in Mesa we need to ask the same questions . . .
Re: 2 new proposals for 'conceptual renderings' and 'pretty pictures on two pieces of property along the line of the Valley Metro Light Rail extension into the Central Business District here in The New Urban DTMesa . . . Is this the "Salvation Train" we are waiting for?
Here's one in the historic district on the south side of Main Street between Center and MacDonald where mostly two-story legacy buildings with façades have shaped the streetscape for generations. Some are scheduled for removal or improvement. Here in the image to the right is a way-out-of-scale and way-out-of-proportion rendering that throws the balance of old and new way outta whack with a planned 15-story tower.
Here's another one not in the historic district with a 7-story tower and 350 Sq Ft  'micro-apartments' to be built over a three-story parking garage behind Mesa Municipal Court. It also includes over 25,000 Sq Ft of commercial/office space and 14 row or 'townhouses' on Pomeroy Street. It's called The GRID Project by 3W Management LLC. The city is throwing $3,000,000 to lure a developer and/or investors to the parcel on the SWC of Main/Mesa Drive, with a 'pretty picture' of something called Gateway Park.
1. What makes an investment attractive?
2. An investor's goal most likely is to capture a profit, but what else?
3. What about improving community or impacting the future?
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Certain regulations and codes have made it hard for banks and other lenders to offer money to projects that aren’t the norm. As such, innovation can be stifled by the ability to obtain capital.
But now, with the advent of technology, projects that previously couldn’t be funded because of bank limitations can now be extended to and supported by the broader community. Eve Picker, founder of the crowdfunding platform Small Change, saw a way to use security regulations to match developers to investors. Here, she talks about how she harnesses the power of social media and email to source investors that are permitted to participate in funding new projects. . . 
This method of raising capital is still in the early adopter phase. Few people have been introduced to it and those who have are still questioning the risk. Once it gains momentum, Picker says the “crowd” will realize that it’s a meaningful way to be involved in the community.
“There is a palpable need for people to be engaged in the community that they live in,” Picker says.
“This is a tool for them not only to be involved but also to get some financial gain.”