Why don’t developers build something in my town?
By : J. David Chapman/December 18, 2025
Every city leader has asked it at some point: “Why don’t developers build something in my town?” The question usually comes after another empty lot sits untouched or a historic building continues to age without restoration. The answer, while simple, isn’t always easy to hear – real estate development has to make financial sense, or it won’t happen.
Earlier this week, I came across that very theme while reviewing notes from a presentation to chamber executives in Kansas, and it struck me how relevant it is to Oklahoma’s suburban downtowns as well. Whether you’re in Edmond, Enid, or El Reno, the challenge is the same: the cost to build new projects often exceeds what the market will support. Developers don’t avoid smaller cities because they don’t believe in them – they avoid them because the math doesn’t work.
In subURBAN!, I write about how form follows finance. It’s not a slogan; it’s the economic reality that determines what gets built. Cities that want walkable, mixed-use downtowns need to understand the numbers behind development – construction costs, lending ratios, risk, and return. If the total cost of building exceeds the fair market value of the finished project, development simply stalls. That’s where creative tools like tax increment financing, historic preservation credits, and public-private partnerships become not giveaways, but gap-fillers that make good projects possible.
But incentives alone won’t fix it. Real transformation comes when local people – those who already care deeply about their community – become the next generation of small, homegrown developers. Large national firms tend to focus on scale and return, local developers, on the other hand, care about place, character, and legacy. They’re willing to accept smaller returns to see their downtown thrive.
In Edmond, I’ve seen how a few visionary property owners breathing new life into a building can spark a wave of energy that changes the trajectory of an entire block. It doesn’t take dozens – it takes a handful. When the community supports them, they create more than projects; they create momentum. Yet, I’m also seeing many of these “incremental” developers struggle financially right now. If we want to see more thriving suburban downtowns, we must grow, train, support, and empower local developers. That’s how we build towns we’re proud to call home.
J. David Chapman is the chair of finance and professor of real estate at The University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).