Unlocking the Potential of Place with Sean McLean

Sean McLean is a visionary in the field of regenerative development. He is a managing partner of MPact Collective, an impact real estate development firm that takes an innovative, long-term approach toward place-based investing. Sean believes that the best way to build a resilient community is to spend months there full-time learning the issues and addressing them in a sustainable way, working on the scale of decades rather than years. He’s creating opportunities to support underserved and underinvested communities that offer impressive returns that can compete with and even exceed those of traditional real estate developments. 

Sean and show host Neal talk about Sean’s formative years in Nassau County, “the birthplace of the American suburb;” his education, which taught him about the history and psychology of real estate; and his early years in the real estate industry. Eventually, Sean had an epiphany that the frustrating rules and regulations that prevented more meaningful development could be challenged and improved, and he set about doing that. They discuss his more recent work creating innovative zoning codes and entitlement processes, his transition into regenerative development with MPact Collective, and their efforts to promote economic resiliency and climate-smart growth through their investments. They also dive into the critical role of deep community involvement in the development process and the challenge of attracting traditional investors to buy in to their projects. For more information visit mpactcollective.com.

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This podcast isn’t just about ideas—it’s about action. From these conversations, two organizations have emerged to bring regenerative real estate to life:

Latitude Regenerative Real Estate is the world’s first regenerative-focused real estate brokerage, dedicated to aligning values-driven buyers and sellers. With a strong presence in the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes regions, Latitude also supports purpose-driven developments across North America through strategic marketing and branding services. If you're looking to buy, sell, or amplify a regenerative project, Latitude is your trusted partner.

Hamlet Capital is an investment and development firm committed to building resilient communities rooted in working farms. If you’re developing an agrihood or conservation community, we’d love to hear from you. Together, we can turn visionary ideas into thriving, place-based investments.