Solving the Workforce Housing Crisis

Adam Torres and Nate Welch discuss the workforce housing crisis.

Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify

Apply to be a guest on our podcast here

Show Notes:

Solving the Workforce Housing Crisis, with market rate affordable rents with wellness design in mind is the goal of Mailbox Money Real Estate & Private Equity. In this episode, Adam Torres and Nate Welch, Vice President of Communications at Mailbox Money Real Estate & Private Equity, explore the workforce housing crisis and the Jets & Capital Event in Las Vegas.

About Nate Welch

Nate Welch is an accomplished Chief Executive Officer with extensive experience in multiple industries, including the entertainment industry, news media, economic development and a strong background in leadership, innovation, and community development. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Sales, Event Management, Radio, and Media Relations, Nate has built a career dedicated to driving success through strategic vision and collaborative leadership. A graduate of the University of Sioux Falls with a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Studies & Management, Nate has consistently demonstrated his ability to foster growth and inspire teams to achieve excellence. His leadership has been recognized with numerous awards, including a Telly Award as an executive producer, a Spot News Award, multiple finalist honors for Executive of the Year, and a regional award for overcoming adversity during COVID-19 in economic development. Additionally, his vision and direction have led to award-winning achievements, such as a historical renovation recognized with architectural accolades and a marketing campaign honored by Major League Baseball Digest.

About Mailbox Money Real Estate & Private Equity

Mailbox Money Real Estate is dedicated to addressing the affordable housing crisis by developing innovative, high-quality, and wellness-focused multifamily real estate. Through strategic land selection, sustainable design, and efficient construction, the company creates living spaces that enhance quality of life while delivering strong returns for investors.  

By pioneering affordable design-build projects and leveraging real estate syndication, Mailbox Money provides accessible housing solutions that promote financial stability and community well-being.  

With a foundation built on innovation, collaboration, and impact, Mailbox Money transforms real estate into a vehicle for both financial success and meaningful change—empowering individuals and families to thrive.

Full Unedited Transcript

 Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So did I have Nate Welch on the line and he is vice president of communications for mailbox money, real estate and private equity.

Nate, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks, Adam. Great to be here. Great to join you. All right. So we got a lot to talk about today. We’ll get into solving the workforce housing crisis. We’re going to talk about. I definitely want to get into that project that you’re doing over in Sioux Falls. Got a lot to talk about here.

And correct me if I’m off here. We met at the Jetson Capital event. Is that right? Yeah, we did. We did. You know, Cool. yeah, that’s such a great event. So many fantastic people. It’s, such a pleasure to be invited to that type of thing because you just have great quality people. So it was a real pleasure to get to, connect.

And I’m looking forward to you and I chat and I can all right, Nate. So I gotta tell you, secret. No, nobody listened. This is a secret just for Nate. Okay, here, here we go. So, yeah. do you remember how that that event was rescheduled because the president came into town, right?

Yeah, they had to reschedule it Okay. So now i’m today i’m actually in miami and the other and I was covering this other conference Fii priority. So there’s another conference we did and guess who did the keynote? The president. So I don’t know. I think he’s following me around. I think he is. I think he might’ve heard of Mission Matters.

I don’t know. This time he brought Elon with him. I don’t know. I’m just throwing it out there. You know, that’s a good point. I bet. See, I think, you know, once he got such a great review of the Joe Rogan show, he’s like, now I got to go to something, you know, that’s got people who I want to talk to. Adam, would you please pay attention to me?

That’s what he’s probably doing, just so other people in your window right now, holding up a boom box, trying to play a song for you to like, just me on the podcast. Just so everybody knows Nate is not a sponsor of this show. I sponsor Nate to come and talk very nice.

I’ll take it all day long, man. Well, let, dive into mailbox money. let’s kind of tread this a bit here mailbox money, real estate and private equity. Tell us a little bit more about the company. Absolutely. You know, we are a multifamily developer. And what we’re really focusing on right now is we’re trying to focus on helping to solve that modern workforce, affordable housing crisis that we have.

Now, a quick background to that. We have our founder, Dustin Hendrickson. I’m so excited to be joining him. Been with him a little bit over a year now. I come from a cool, eclectic background, but Dustin comes from that perspective of, you roofing, twin homes, townhomes, townhomes. Executive homes and then really get into this multifamily development with a number of very great strategic partners that really has allowed us to not only build some really successful properties, but to do it in a very successful way that has allowed us to be able to navigate and transition and pivot when and however we need to, however the market’s going.

And so, you know, they’ve been doing that. We’ve been doing those kinds of projects almost 10 years. Along with the 20 plus years that Dustin has in his building and development experience. And so we’re really hitting a very exciting time because of how needed this is right to solve that workforce housing crisis.

We have, been able to just contribute as much as we can to that. Hmm. I don’t want to assume that the audience kind of understands that housing crisis going on there. Maybe, dive into that a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and so again, part of that is from my background of being in economic development, running a community economic development organization that was also aligned with the chamber of commerce.

But here’s the thing for those who, Okay. aren’t as familiar. Almost every community that you’re in, especially those that are growing, really truly have a workforce housing issue. Many of them will. You could go ask any of your community leaders and they probably will be saying that that’s likely one of the top issues amongst the community.

And the reason why is because as we continue to want to grow in our communities, which often communities are trying to attract jobs, right? So when you’ve got jobs and you’re trying to build it, Not only do you want to give jobs to those who maybe you might have a high unemployment rate, but many in the country don’t have high unemployment rates, which means they’ve got to get in migration of other community members from around the state, around towns, whatever it might be.

The challenge is, is when you’re trying to attract a business or help your businesses in your town grow, and they need that workforce, that workforce to move to your town. But they need a home, right? They need to live somewhere. And when we have low inventory, rises up the cost, rises up that need for it.

And so now you run into a chicken and an egg challenge. Do we get the jobs so that we can get the workforce to come? Do we get the workforce to come so we can get the jobs, right? That’s where we have that challenge. That’s a quick little summary of what that workforce crisis that we have is. Then you also have what is the affordable aspect to that, right?

And so that’s one of the things that we really focus on is this market rate affordable quality grade A properties, great design on the exterior, great design on the interior, specifically trimming down amenities so that it is affordable. But these are great properties that can go into almost any part of a community and, be welcomed into that.

And when you. Build something that has wellness design. You create good, positive contributors to your community, to your neighborhood, to your workforce, to your business, all of that. Now, to kind of build on this, and maybe even if you care, if you want to use this word as like a case study, if you will. I understand in Sioux Falls, which is a big project you’re working on, maybe the largest permit holder, correct me if I’m off on this, for multi family apartments being built currently.

Yeah. in terms of capacity and like what you’re, what you’re just achieving in general, maybe use that as kind of like case study, if you will, and just kind of to explain this concept and how you’re delivering on what you’re talking about. Yeah, absolutely. That’s it’s such a great point in case study. I think is really accurate for that.

So, yeah. Okay. Right on. Okay. So here’s what I would say when we look at that. And again. while we’re talking here, we have the largest permits in Sioux Falls, which is where a lot of our projects are. We also have some projects outside of the area as we continue to expand, right? But in Sioux Falls, for that example, we have the largest set of multifamily permits for units.

That’s currently going. Now, what that tells you is is number 1, we’re building. Well, everybody else has slowed down the reason they’ve slowed down because as many of us know, there’s a lot of people in the multifamily development world. Right? Like, there are a lot of those. And what happens where we talk about this crisis for this is.

The communities may get saturated with more than what they need to what they can afford. So, in other words, you might be building too many apartments that actually cost more money than what the people moving in can actually achieve. Right? So, anyway, so when I say that of us having this largest count of permits currently, Is that shows you that not only are we continuing to build well, everybody else is slowing down allowing for part of that saturation in the market to kind of work itself out.

But then the next question would be, well, if you’re over building, what’s your vacancy and our vacancies. Are well, we’re at over 90 percent occupancy, right? Less than 10 percent vacancies. And I think one of the specific reasons why we see such such success, there’s a lot of aspects to it. And of course, we can kind of dive into those or feel free to call us to to work through more details of it.

But here’s the reality of what it is. We have these quality built, very nice apartments that are also strategically and well thought out on the placement of that range. So, in other words, they’re not too expensive. They’re not too cheap. They’ve got great quality. They’re new. We build them up and we’re building them up in the way that.

It aligns with the need in it. And one of those examples is, let’s say, one of our projects is, say, maybe 100 units in one of the locations that might be the 1st phase of something. It might be 5 buildings with average of maybe 20 units in each building. Because what we do, we build 3 stories high. It allows it to be able to be cost efficient, a proper density, and then at the same time, we’ll build.

Five buildings that will equal that 100 and we’ll stagger them by about 60 to 90 days. So you’re building up the 1st 160 days later. You’re starting with the next 1 starting with the next 1 with the next 1. so now when our financing loan is is consistent with us paying interest rate on that or interest only we may be opening up the 1st building when we’re still working.

Or we always are working on the next 4, we’re opening up that 2nd 1 and so that’s starting to trickle. So, by 14 to 26 units at a time, we’re filling those up. So, by the time that final unit goes, we’ve pretty much already sold out the entire inventory of it. And then we’re working into that next phase 2.

And it’s very prudent for us to be able to do it. And it actually provides for our investors, usually 12 to 15 months, maybe sooner than a project of that same size might do if it’s all encased into one. So that’s an example of how we continue to build when everybody else is slowing down. We still show that we have a product that is needed and it’s fulfilling that need.

England. It’s a product that people want because they’re lining up to get into it. So, so the numbers do speak for themselves, but I like to go maybe a step, a step deeper when we when we talk about like, maybe the, concept of design and being tenant focused, because I have me a single builder.

That’s going to say the opposite. Obviously your number is a 90 percent occupancy. That that’s. speaks for itself. But what goes into this? Like what, when we talk about tenant focus, , what does that mean for, these bills? So one of the things I really like to point out is really that wellness design is what really what we’re trying to do.

And yeah, you’re right. Like a lot of things are semantics, right? So what does affordable meaning wellness design and whatnot. So when we look at wellness design, we’re specifically looking at certain things. That are things that we’ve not only learned over time, but we have also then continued to evolve.

And so some of those examples that we often don’t recognize until we’re there and walking into the space, we might not even maybe as a person looking at the space or a person looking to rent it. Right? We might not be able to recognize why we like it and why we feel so comfortable. But when we’ve thought, when we as a company have thought about these and designed them out, we’re strategically, specifically thinking about that.

And here’s some of those examples. Some of the things when it comes to wellness design is just even those white tones of color that that open up and brighten the room. The open floor plan allows us to be able to have even a smaller square footage of actual space, but it feels a lot bigger because of those floor to ceiling windows that natural light helps make us healthier.

The ability and being able to have a space where we can eat and cook wonderful, healthy meals in a very well thought out kitchen with those appliances in that triangle and everything , where we’re laying that out. No 1 can reach more than 6 feet before they’ve got good counter space.

And all of a sudden. They really feel like that’s a place that they can call home the design of not having to have to have doors on certain rooms or hallways when they’re not necessary. Not only keeps a cost down, but it also takes away less less structure in front of them. Another really simple thing that we do, we make sure to have zero entry on all the apartments.

So now, even the ability of getting out of your car, walking right into your space within a few steps. Really does feel as though you are part of that earth, both inside and out. And a lot of times when people are in apartments or small spaces, if they have to feel like they’re going through a transition from outside to inside, That is sort of effort, right?

All of a sudden you create those two spaces and now they have to decide if they’re making effort to go to the next and that little effort that they aren’t even realizing they’re not taking it adds to that wellness design. And so what happens when we’re thinking of a tenant centric is we’re thinking of the things that create responses from our tenants that create them to be happier.

And naturally more happy than just Hey, we’ve got pool here for you. Hey, you’re going to have a sauna, you know, because the reality is, is those just rack up costs and usually people aren’t using them. Right. And so these wellness design specifics that we have help improve. The life of our tenants and also when they’re show being shown that they sometimes don’t even recognize it, but they’re like, yeah, this feels more comfortable.

This feels like a place I want to call home. Yeah, well, this is a great story and I can see it. And again, , the numbers speak for themselves. It’s obviously been successful. How do people get involved? Like, what are you looking for? You Do you take on investors, private investors, institutional, like what, how do people get involved with this setup?

Please. Absolutely. You know, there’s a couple ways. One, we’d love to meet you if you’re interested in investing in these types of projects. Absolutely. We have a lot of, a lot of great investors, both from institutional or from retail investors. We really truly believe. And not only a good balance for that, but we also believe in that so that we can help make a difference on that.

So, if you’re looking at investing, not only a good products and a good project that helps bring a good return. We certainly are proud to take that call, but even more. So we’re proud of the difference and what we’re trying to do to our communities and make that impact. So, if you’re an impact investor, and you want to help make that.

Help us solve this problem. We’d love to hear from you because we love that shared passion. The other thing I’d really like to invite is if you are an investor and you want to bring this success to your community, your community leader or community business individual. And you say, you know what? We need better workforce housing.

Give us a call. We’d love to talk to you more. We’ll be happy to tell you, you know, as you can tell, there’s no, there’s no breath I don’t take. Right? We’d be happy to tell you how we’re doing it and what we’re doing. And if you in your community and your leaders can take that plan and run with it, game on, love it.

But if you need any help, we’re there for you along the way as well. So we would love for anyone who has those interests, feel free to give us a call. Fantastic. And how do people connect? What’s the website? The numbers? Like, do people connect? Yeah. Absolutely. Hey, best way is reach out to us on our website which is www.

mailboxmoney. com. So mailbox money, the letter r e dot com. You can also find us on all the social media channels. You can find us on Facebook, find us on LinkedIn, find us on on Instagram. Feel free, reach out to us there. you’ll be easy to find it. Mailbox money and real estate, MRE and then again, we’ll have the, that nice little green logo with the, mailbox and with the, little dollar sign coming out of it.

we’re proud of what that is, is that provides that passive income for people. Not because money should just be something of wealth, but what we do with that gift and that passive income, how we serve others with our extra time, with our extra gifts. That’s the kind of stuff that we truly stand for.

And anyone who wants to help with that or have better passive income, we’re happy to help them with that as well. Perfect. And for everybody listening, just so you know, we’ll definitely put the links in the web in the, in the show notes so that you can just click on the links and head right on over. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters, and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button.

This is a daily show each and every day. We’re bringing you new content, new ideas. And hopefully new inspiration to help you along the way on your journey as well. So again, hit that subscribe or follow button and Nate, man, really appreciate you coming on. Thanks again. Hey, thanks a lot, Adam. Keep doing what you do, brother.