Edgewater West Salem

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Core · The Financial Story

District
Capitalization

Who invests in Edgewater, through which vehicle, when each opens, and how capital comes back. How the build-out itself is financed, instrument by instrument, is on the Capital Stack page.

The Strategy

This is a district, not a deal

Edgewater is a master development strategy: assemble and entitle a 20+ acre riverfront district, de-risk it as one coherent whole, and deliver it in phases with aligned partners. Phase 1 matters because it proves the district, not because of any single address; the 5.29 acres where we begin are the first move on a much larger board. Capital in this strategy is layered deliberately: patient capital creates the district’s value early and owns the platform that repeats it; project capital arrives when phases are entitled and underwritable; supportive public capital lowers the basis for everyone. Each layer has its own risk, horizon, and reward, and its own clear way in and out.

The Structure

Two raises now, one district ahead

The Phase One Capital Campaign raises $15M across two complementary vehicles, running simultaneously and working together. One creates the district’s value itself. The other builds Now City Inc: a master developer platform designed to scale, where Edgewater is the first district of many, and platform investors participate in every one that follows.

Phase One Capital Campaign
$15M · Two Vehicles · Raising Simultaneously
Raising Now
Now City Platform
$3M · C-Corp Equity
Builds the master developer platform designed to scale districts: Edgewater first, then the next. Platform investors own the engine, not just the project.
Team & operating runway$1.0M
Master planning & site evaluation$0.7M
Business development & IR$0.65M
Legal, community, contingency$0.65M
Raising Now
District Value Creation Fund
$12M · District SPV
Creates the district: site control, entitlements, engineering, and infrastructure planning that turn parcels into an investable whole.
Entitlements & engineering$6.0M
Infrastructure planning$2.0M
Options contracts & carry$2.0M
Environmental, legal, reserve$2.0M
A Fully Controlled, Entitled District
Site control secured · entitlements substantially complete · engineering advanced · lead capital partner identified
Land Acquisition
~$34M · Land SPV
$5M sponsor land contribution as foundational equity + ~$29M outside equity, secured under a fully executed letter of intent. The landowner does not just sell to the district; they invest in it, reducing the outside equity required and aligning the district’s past with its future.
Phase Project Capitalization
LP Equity + Construction Debt · Phase by Phase
Each entitled phase capitalizes on its own underwriting (Phase 1 ≈ $185M), with supportive capital (TIF, grants, credits) woven through every layer. Returns and structures live in the Upside Explorer.

As master developer, Now City earns across four layers rather than a single building’s margin, and every capital partner participates in the layers their position touches:

Layer 1 · Land Value

Created by assembling and entitling the 22-acre district: the step the Value Creation Fund finances.

Layer 2 · Pad Monetization

Finished parcels are held, joint-ventured, or delivered with best-in-class phase partners.

Layer 3 · Development Margin

On the phases Now City builds itself, underwritten live in the Upside Explorer.

Layer 4 · Long-Term Yield

Holding the stabilized district as owner-operator, recapitalized rather than sold.

How others did itSt. Louis’s Cortex began with $29M of patient anchor capital that controlled and entitled 200 acres; a $167M public financing package and hundreds of millions in project capital followed the de-risked land, not the other way around. Detroit’s riverfront started with one catalytic commitment that unlocked $110M more. Early patient capital sets the table; project capital eats well because of it.
The District in Numbers

Modest catalytic capital, district-scale value

The economics come from the Business Plan’s core arithmetic: a small amount of early, patient capital controls and entitles the whole district, unlocking a development pipeline and stabilized value many multiples larger.

$15M
Phase One Capital Campaign · two vehicles, raising simultaneously
$3M
Now City Platform
builds the company
$12M
District Value Creation Fund
creates the district
Assembly & Value Creation
Control, entitle, engineer, and de-risk the full district
~$34M
Land acquisition closes · fund investors’ first exit window: repay or convert
~$29M
Outside equity
$5M
Sponsor land contribution
fully executed LOI: the landowner invests alongside you
~$650M
Development pipeline unlocked across four phases · LP equity + construction debt enter phase by phase
~$1.0B
Stabilized asset value at completion
Own & Recapitalize
Held long-term, with recapitalizations that return capital (Y4 / Y6 / Y8) and an optional Year 10+ Opportunity Zone hold
1,000
Residential units across four phases
~95,000 SF
Retail, dining & flex workspace
100,000+ SF
Sports, recreation & wellness
Year 8
Target build-out, earning income years earlier through rolling stabilization
Full detail in the Business Plan; live underwriting in the Upside Explorer.
Where You Come In

Four kinds of capital, four clear doors

Every stakeholder below can find their entry point, their role while invested, and their exit. If you recognize yourself in one of these, the structure was designed with you in mind.

Door 1 · Raising Now

Cash Partners: patient, aligned capital

Aligned individuals, family offices, and strategic corporates who want to create district-scale value rather than just finance it. Two simultaneous ways in: equity in the Now City platform (venture-style participation in GP interests, fees, promote, and every future district) or the District Value Creation Fund (the value created by site control, entitlements, and de-risking itself).

EnterNow: the $15M Phase One Campaign, either vehicle or both
ExitFund: 3-5 years via repayment or conversion into the Land SPV at entitlement. Platform: 7-10 years, venture-style
Door 2 · At Entitlement

Project LPs & construction lenders

Institutional and private equity plus senior debt that capitalizes each phase once it is entitled, engineered, and underwritable. You arrive at a de-risked project with the district’s value already created beneath it, underwritten transparently in a live model rather than a static pro forma.

EnterPhase capitalizations, beginning with Phase 1 (≈$185M); OZ structures available for the 10-year hold
ExitStabilization and rolling recapitalizations (targets at years 4, 6, and 8), or hold through the OZ horizon
Door 3 · Phase by Phase

Phased development partners

Experienced developers who build inside the master plan: a parcel, a product type, a phase. You inherit entitled land, settled district standards, shared infrastructure, and a coalition that has already done the public work. The bench and how we build it live on the Coalition & Partner Strategy and Delivery Teams pages.

EnterParcel-level JV, co-GP, or fee development as each phase opens
ExitDevelopment fees and promote at phase stabilization; repeat across phases
Door 4 · Every Layer

Supportive capital

The public and philanthropic tools that lower the basis for everyone: West Salem URA tax increment financing and grants, state infrastructure and brownfield programs, housing capital (LIFT, LIHTC), energy and mobility funding, and mission capital from Oregon philanthropy. Mapped door-by-door on the Coalition & Partner Strategy page.

EnterProgram by program, aligned to district milestones from predevelopment onward
ExitPublic capital exits as public benefit: housing, jobs, tax base, riverfront
How others did itPortland’s Pearl District ran the same layered logic: a private master developer, a city compact that funded streetcar and parks through tax increment, and vertical projects capitalized one at a time inside the framework. Every layer of capital got what it came for.
The Sequence

When each door opens, and when capital comes back

Y0Y1Y2Y3Y4Y5Y6Y7Y8Y9Y10
Phase One Campaign
$15M dual raise
Predevelopment & entitlement
Land close
~$34M Land SPV · Fund exit window
Phase 1
≈$185M project capital
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Long-term hold
Opportunity Zone horizon
Capital raise Predevelopment Construction Lease-up / stabilization Capital event: exit, recap, or conversion

Illustrative sequence from company underwriting (June 2026). Diamonds mark the moments capital comes back: the fund exit window at land close, and rolling recapitalizations targeted at years 4, 6, and 8, with the Year 10+ Opportunity Zone hold for investors who want the full benefit.

Now
Dual raise

Platform ($3M) and District Fund ($12M) raise simultaneously; predevelopment work begins immediately.

Next
Control & entitle

Site control, entitlements, engineering, infrastructure planning; supportive capital applications run in parallel.

Then
Land close

~$34M Land SPV closes with sponsor land contribution; Fund investors repay or convert. First exit window.

Build
Phase capitalizations

LP equity and construction debt per phase; development partners deliver inside the masterplan.

Own
Stabilize & recycle

Rolling recapitalizations return capital (targets Y4/Y6/Y8); the district holds long-term, with the OZ horizon for those who want it.

Opportunity Zone positionThe district parcels sit within the City of Salem’s currently designated West Salem Opportunity Zone, and the entity structure is QOF/QOZB-compatible: OZ-eligible investors can pursue the 10-year basis step-up through the extended hold. The OZ program is now permanent, with new designations taking effect January 1, 2027; the Edgewater tract’s eligibility for the new round is verified and the nomination window is being worked now. The underwriting stands on its own without OZ benefits; the OZ position is upside, not a crutch.
How We Work

We lead with this. We build it with you.

This is the structure we believe serves the district and its capital best, and it is where every conversation starts. It is not where every conversation has to end. Check size, position in the stack, structure preferences, tax circumstances, and Opportunity Zone needs all vary, and we shape final structures with our capital partners rather than for them. What stays fixed is the strategy: one district, layered capital, aligned exits, and a sponsor who intends to still be here in year ten.

The Invitation

Help shape what a city can be.

Edgewater is a chance to prove that a walkable, regenerative district can pencil, in Salem first, then as a model for Oregon, and through the Now City platform, for cities beyond. The capital that joins now is not just financing a project; it is shaping how the next generation of American districts gets built. Find your door below and start the conversation.

Or simply write to [email protected] · live underwriting in the Upside Explorer

Investor FAQ

An honest conversation about risk

We would rather earn trust than manage impressions. These are the questions serious investors ask us, answered directly, with the risk we are still working named alongside each answer. If you see a risk we have not named, we want to hear it.

Absorption

“Can a market like Salem absorb a district this size?”

The answer is in the phasing: roughly 1,000 homes over about a decade, in phases sized to absorption, never all at once. The market is supply-constrained (under 2% vacancy, 636 units of unmet demand in the core), renter-dominant (54% within 1.5 miles), and at the front of a migration wave: Oregon ranked #1 for inbound moves in 2025, with Salem the #7 U.S. metro. The risk we are working: if in-migration slows, later phases stretch. Rolling phasing and exit windows mean the project never bets on a single absorption year.

Sponsor

“Your team is building its first district. Why back you at this scale?”

Now City is built as a district strategy and systems integrator: experienced local and regional development, construction, and operating partners are assembled phase by phase, so execution capacity scales with the platform rather than resting on one firm. Phase One is deliberately a disciplined first block, not the whole district, and our senior advisors are load-bearing, not decorative. The risk we are working: key-person and partner-selection risk, mitigated by phase-level partners and staged capital.

Entitlement

“Will the city actually approve this density?”

The City rezoned the corridor to high-density mixed-use (MU-III) in 2022, making much of the program by-right; the site sits in an Urban Renewal Area and a designated Opportunity Zone. Entitling the full district is its own funded stage, completed before vertical capital is at risk. The risk we are working: design review, infrastructure conditions, and approval timing, carried with contingency and sequencing.

Costs & Rates

“What about construction costs and interest rates?”

We hold a conservative base case rather than a promotional one, and rather than asking you to trust our assumptions, the Upside Explorer lets you move rents, costs, cap rates, lease-up, and financing yourself. We pursue HUD and agency debt for long-term fixed-rate cost and use efficient building types to take cost and schedule out of the plan. The risk we are working: volatility we cannot control, defended with staged commitments and financing optionality.

Assembly

“Phases 2 through 4 are not under your control yet.”

The catalyst Phase One parcel is contributed by the Sponsors as equity under a fully executed letter of intent. The remaining ~17 acres are held by a single owner, offered at appraised pricing for years without a transaction: a motivated counterparty with several low-commitment control paths (option, lease-to-own, purchase, seller participation). The risk we are working: assembly is not guaranteed; Phase One stands on its own economics even if it slows.

Liquidity

“This is a long hold in an illiquid market. How do we get liquidity?”

The plan is built around rolling exit windows rather than one terminal sale: Phase 1 recapitalization around Year 4, the stabilized residential portfolio around Year 6, district components around Year 8, and the optional Year 10+ OZ hold. Admission of the co-GP cash partner is itself a value-marking event. The risk we are working: exit pricing depends on future cap rates and buyer depth; the rolling structure spreads that exposure across several windows.

All projections are based on assumptions regarding revenues and costs that may not equate to actual results; actual results will differ and may differ materially. Prospective investors, with their financial and legal advisers, should independently evaluate all assumptions and should not place undue weight on any projections. This page does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities; an offering can be made only pursuant to delivery of a private placement memorandum and related documentation. Any securities would be offered in reliance on exemptions from registration and only to persons meeting applicable requirements. Statements herein may constitute forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties; no representation is made that objectives will be achieved, and Now City undertakes no obligation to update such statements. This material is confidential, furnished solely for consideration of the matters described, and is not to be copied or shared without written consent.