At AIA26, this year’s National Conference of the American Institute of Architects in San Diego, Joshua Zinder, AIA, of JZA+D and Christopher Farnum, AIA, of Studio Hillier presented Session SE303, Architect, Also Developer: Achieving Stability, Growth, and Better Project Outcomes, to a full and engaged room early on Friday morning.
The session made the case that architects are uniquely positioned to become developers, applying the same creative problem-solving and design judgment they already bring to their work to create better projects, greater firm stability, and long-term value for their communities.
Rather than a straight lecture, Josh and Chris walked the audience through the real mechanics of development: how to read a cash-flow pro forma, the dos and don’ts of pitching investors, and a hands-on exercise modeling the economics of a small apartment building from the ground up. They grounded it all in built Princeton case studies showing how design-led development plays out in practice.
Results from live audience polling told the story: more than half the room were architects who hadn’t yet developed a property but wanted to, most drawn to multi-family and mixed-use work as a path to long-term wealth building. The response was
exceptional — a 4.9 out of 5 live rating, and 91% of post-session respondents said they left more likely to pursue their own development projects, nearly two-thirds of them “very likely.” It’s a strong signal of just how much appetite there is in the profession for this kind of practical, business-minded guidance. Congratulations to Josh and Chris on a standout presentation that represented the New Jersey design community so well on the national stage.