Where real estate meets rhythm | Developer, investor, live music enthusiast, and mountain seeker.

By Daniel Kaufman | May 2026 People ask me constantly where I see the next wave of real estate opportunity. They expect me to say Texas. Maybe Florida again. Sometimes they’re hoping I’ll say something contrarian like Cleveland or Gary, Indiana, so they can nod and feel sophisticated. I’m going to say Michigan. Not the Michigan of the rust belt narrative. Not “Detroit comeback story #47.” I’m talking about three specific markets that most coastal developers haven’t touched — and that’s exactly the point. The Upper Peninsula. Traverse City. Grand Rapids. Three completely different stories with one connecting thread: fresh water. You want to talk about the most undervalued long-term infrastructure asset in the world? It’s not data centers. It’s not lithium. It’s clean, abundant, accessible freshwater. And Michigan sits on top of more of it than almost anywhere on earth. Let me break this down market by market. THE UPPER PENINSULA: AMERICA’S LAST FRONTIER DISCOUNT Here’s a number that sho...

Spring 2026 is making it obvious who actually cares about skiing. It’s early April in New England. The snow is still deep. The days are long. The corn is perfect. And the biggest ski resorts in the region are shutting down. Meanwhile, the little guys? Still spinning lifts. This isn’t a weather story. It’s a business model story. And if you ski in New England, you need to pay attention. THE SCOREBOARD Killington, Vermont, independent, privately owned,  markets itself as the East’s longest season, and it’s earning that title again this spring, with no announced closing date and passes sold through the end of the season. Black Mountain in Jackson, New Hampshire, claims it will keep at least one run open until June 1. June. In New Hampshire. That’s not a typo. Now look at the corporate side. Sunday River, owned by Boyne Resorts closes April 19, 2026. Not a snow shortage. Not a force majeure. A scheduled corporate shutdown, weekend-only operations in the final stretch, with terrain shri...

​ Across the country, we keep looking for a silver bullet to fix the housing shortage. Massive subsidies. Mega-developments. Sweeping federal programs. But sometimes the most practical solutions are the smallest ones. Three cities in Maine—Rockland, Bath, and Brunswick—are piloting a program that offers homeowners up to $10,000 to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). It’s called the ADU Boost Pilot Program, and while the grant itself may seem modest, the concept behind it is exactly the kind of thinking we need more of in housing policy. From a real estate developer’s perspective, programs like this recognize something the market has been saying for years: the fastest way to create housing isn’t always through large-scale projects. Sometimes it’s by empowering existing property owners to add supply incrementally. The Quiet Power of Accessory Dwelling Units ADUs—sometimes called carriage houses, backyard cottages, or in-law apartments—are one of the most underutilized t...