Bene Esse, a S.P.R.O.U.T. Product concept

Normally, people do this:
(1) let’s get money
(2) and buy property (acreage)
(3) so we can build a community

Challenges:

• most land owners don’t want to sell their property (acreage)
• not everyone has sufficient money to buy land
• community members are not sure where or how to start

Ruth Glendinning is the founder and product designer for Future Story Lab, and in collaboration with 214 Alpha and Carnacurious, we cooked up an alternative Anti-Fragile model for real estate stewardship that we believe has some promise, particularly as the market hits some bumps.

In the S.P.R.O.U.T. product, (as discussed in our latest podcast episode), existing landowners can host mostly-portable communities that improve their land while generating additional income.

In our Austin-area pilot, currently titled “Bene Esse” (Latin for “well being), these are the aspired highlights:

• Accelerate development by leveraging virtual community before the establishment of physical amenities (by using 214 Alpha marketplace app)
• Build physical amenities with assistance of curated virtual community members (recruited, vetted, and prepared through the 214 CALM — the Community Activation and Launch Methodology)
• Launch physical community with vested community of stewards
• Virtual community provides self-funded operations for community services
• Model employs bio-intensive and anti-fragile principles to improve while under duress
• Operating and governance model is technically a franchise, so the blueprint can be “copied and pasted” elsewhere, when the community is ready

Benefits to Landowner include, but are not limited to:

• Recurring source of ongoing revenue with minimal liability
• Mobile and portable; a minimal dependency upon fixed infrastructure
• Reduction in costs (tax breaks)
• Improved power autonomy and improved soil quality
• Creating a legacy of opportunity

This changes the dynamic.

By leading with the benefits, leveraging a plan that’s mostly-portable, we can now approach multiple existing landowners and offer them an opportunity to collaborate in a manner that’s beneficial to all parties, while bypassing the ordinary barrier of a land purchase.