> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://blueprint.builtbydao.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://blueprint.builtbydao.com/readme.md).

# The Blueprint

{% hint style="success" %}
**Built By DAO does community-owned neighborhood development** — homes, commercial space, jobs, and a regenerative Foundry hub — in disinvested Detroit and Chicago neighborhoods. We rebuild the neighborhood, and the people who build it own the result.

|  🎯 The proof round  |      🏘️ The output     | 🔑 The ownership |
| :------------------: | :---------------------: | :--------------: |
| **$1.75M · one hub** | A neighborhood's engine |  The community's |
|     {% endhint %}    |                         |                  |

Here's what usually happens: the people who build a city, maintain its buildings, and fill its neighborhoods own none of it — and pay rent into someone else's wealth. **We're building the inverse.**

A **Foundry** is a regenerative development hub. It trains a local workforce, recovers materials from blighted buildings, and produces homes, commercial space, and jobs — made attainable through three cost levers. A trained contribution workforce lowers upfront cash labor needs; adaptive reuse and material recovery reduce what must be bought and built new; and technology plus community capacity reduce professional fees and project overhead. Less upfront cash and borrowing means lower financing and carrying costs, making more projects feasible. Captured public subsidy helps close the remaining gap and keeps the resulting value in **community ownership** instead of a private balance sheet. See [The Cost-Reduction Engine](/how-it-works/cost-reduction.md).

The Blueprint is our strategic, operating, and investment plan. **Round 1 proves the first hub.**

***

## Choose Your Path

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="💰 Invest" %}
**Lead the proof round as catalytic capital.** A patient, asset-backed, defined-return investment with downside protection — funding the machine that turns public subsidy into community wealth.

* **The ask:** $1.75M, one hub (\~$601K net cash after incentives)
* **The proof gate:** a 3-metric scorecard to verify on a real build — the model clears all three targets; actual proof remains ahead
* **The return:** a modest preferred return with downside protection plus a **potential Opportunity Zone appreciation exclusion after ten years** — [2026 and 2027 tax rules differ](/invest/returns.md#two-investment-dates-different-tax-rules)

{% content-ref url="/pages/VWnf562OotqSs8DP6w15" %}
[The Proof Round](/invest/invest.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="🔨 Build / Join" %}
**Build your way in.** No cash gate — you enter through contribution and help build a neighborhood the community owns. EQTBLT records your contribution; individual ownership interests are established separately.

* One path: **join → get vouched → pledge sweat**
* Earn **EQTBLT** — a soul-bound contribution and rent-rebate ledger that accumulates
* Trade skills, certifications, a home pathway, and a real stake

{% content-ref url="/pages/M923mvDmYeIIbAmdC4UK" %}
[Own Your Neighborhood](/build-join/build.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="🤝 Partner" %}
**Make your subsidy do double duty.** Grant-makers, government, CDFIs, and land banks — via Urban Array — fund outcomes *and* durable community ownership.

* Stacked across federal, state, county, city, and CDFI layers
* Targeted at candidate neighborhoods in Detroit + Chicago
* Activation generates the tax increment that funds the next phase

{% content-ref url="/pages/8rYmVTp2pefnQM6MdZTs" %}
[Subsidy into Ownership](/partner/partner.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

***

## The One Line

> **Built By DAO turns the public subsidy the housing crisis makes inevitable into community-owned wealth — lowering upfront cash through contribution, reuse, and reduced fees so more projects can be financed and the community retains the result. The financial model projects \~15% below conventional rehab and \~a third of cost as non-cash at maturity.**

{% hint style="info" %}
**Where to next:** [The Thesis](/thesis.md) · [What a Foundry Builds](/what-a-foundry-builds.md) · [The Proof Round](/invest/invest.md)
{% endhint %}

*Not an offer or solicitation. Not legal or financial advice. Figures illustrative and model-based; instruments subject to counsel.*


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