American Building

If you want to explore urgent topics related to housing and what they can teach us about ourselves and our country, join us here at American Building. Your host, Atif Qadir, is a licensed architect turned developer, a city planning commissioner, and the founder of Commonplace, a company focused on improving access to capital to drive housing production. Through these experiences, he has a unique perspective on the housing problems - and solutions - we’ll hear about this season. We’re taking a roadtrip across the greater New York City area to see how builders and developers are tackling some of the most pressing issues facing Americans in 2023. You can expect nuanced conversations with real estate industry leaders like MaryAnne Gilmartin and Melissa Román Burch in which we expand on housing supply and demand, urban planning, and homeownership in America. This season will take us on a journey from urban centers to rural farmland, and everything in between, to understand what “home” means to Americans today. We’ll look at the history of the Section 8 Program, trends in college town rentals, and how garden-style apartments are transforming the suburban landscape. We’ll also look at the rise and demise of McMansions and tour the resort towns that boomed in the pandemic. We’ll not only dive into the design and development of iconic buildings, but we’ll also analyze how federal and state policy, local entitlements, and access to capital and distribution are making it increasingly difficult to house Americans. Plus, we will be unpacking relevant news headlines and providing insight into the current legislation related to housing. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.