Jenifer Acosta
Housing & Community development. Real Estate Development.
Jenifer Acosta is a solutions-minded community developer known for redeveloping historic buildings and extensive work driving housing developments. With a heart for building dynamic communities that evoke a strong sense of place.
She believes that the best solutions are created by local people, with local resources, with local pride in mind and invests in projects that hit a triple-bottom line of community connection, environmental impact and fiscal responsibility.
She has a strong passion for helping first-time developers launch their commercial vision and teaches small-scale real estate development to doers, bootstrappers and community advocates internationally.
Jenifer earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern Illinois University and a master’s degree in international administration and sustainable development from the University of Miami. She also holds a graduate certificate in real estate development from New York University.
Jenifer’s projects have received numerous awards and recognition for historic preservation and economic development.
Community Advancement
Incremental Development Alliance | Faculty, Board Member, Director of Communications
Midland Center for the Arts | Board Vice Chair
Michigan Municipal League Foundation | Board Member
Midland Area Community Foundation | Impact Investment
MSHDA Region G Strategic Housing Plan | Housing Stock Committee
Dow Community Advisory Panel Member
Strong Towns Housing Working Group Member
Professional Affiliations
Urban Land Institute & ULI MIchigan | Member
ULI Michigan Local Product Council | Housing & Community Development Programming Co-Chair
Congress for New Urbanism | CNU - Accredited
NYU Shack Institute of Real Estate Development | Graduate Certificate
Accolades and Awards
2022 Governor’s Award in Historic Preservation | The Legacy Bay City
MHPN 2020 Preservation Building Award | “The Legacy” | Bay City
Women in Real Estate to Watch | Crain’s Detroit Business | 2018
RUBY Award | 1st State Bank | Recipient 2017
2017 Tax Credit Project Award | The Times Lofts | The Michigan Historic Preservation Network
2020 Building Award, Michigan Historic Preservation Network: The Legacy
