Built with Soul Creative design and a willingness to forgo the status quo are the keys to real estate development with a sense of "there there" Real estate developers sometimes get a bad rap. Are they greedy agents of gentrification? Or, civic-minded city builders? i+D talked with three developers with reputations for the latter to find the pulse behind development that honors a location and manages to propel it forward with respect, enthusiasm, and carefully planned design. Such developers are not out to merely build a building, they seek to make an impact on a community and its current and future residents by listening, learning, and creating long-term goals that set a neighborhood on a positive path for progress.