Opening soon. GroundUp opens to its insider waitlist on November 1, 2026 and to the public on December 1, 2026. The first twenty-five members become founding members at 25% off their first year. Join the waitlist to get your personal invitation and plan recommendation first.
Every course is written from a project Dr. Merritt led. The Development Overview walks the nine phases of a deal in order; the seven stages go deep on each.
Start here: Dr. Merritt walks the nine phases of a development deal in order — feasibility through compliance — so every course after this has a map to hang on.
Everything that happens before you spend real money — and how to avoid spending it on the wrong deal. This course covers Dr. Merritt's full predevelopment process: how she reads a market, evaluates a site, values land, navigates due diligence, manages sellers who want to close before you're ready, and decides what mix of uses the building can actually carry.
You can't do this alone. Every deal in Dr. Merritt's $390M pipeline except one is a joint venture. This course covers what value you actually bring to a partnership as an emerging developer, how to structure JVs that protect you, what goes wrong and how to prevent it, and how to keep your business solvent between closings.
This is where most deals die — not because the site was wrong, but because the developer didn't understand the financing. Dr. Merritt has built capital stacks with 14 sources, spent two years closing a $6M gap, and restructured deals mid-stream when interest rates and construction costs moved against her. This course is the real education in affordable housing finance.
Why does the identical building pencil at market rate and collapse as affordable housing? This course walks the economics from the ground up — land value, the per-unit gap, and the case for subsidy — so you can argue the numbers in a room full of skeptics.
What you're allowed to build decides what the deal is worth. Zoning, rezonings, entitlements, and the community process — how to read the rules, change them when you have to, and come out with a project the neighborhood backs.
You've got the site, the team, and the financing. Now you have to build something worth building. This course covers how to select and manage your architect, make design decisions that serve your residents and your budget, navigate community engagement as a core part of the development process, and get to opening day without a crisis.
The building opened — now the real test starts. LIHTC compliance, and running the asset so it stays funded, occupied, and yours for the long haul.
Coming January 2027: The Underwriting Series — a deep-dive series for Premium and Owner members.