Registration now open for Develop the Developer Launchpad 2-week boot camp

The Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF) has opened registration for the first phase of its new Develop the Developer Launchpad designed to cultivate emerging multifamily real estate developers in Polk County.

The Develop the Developer Launchpad, presented by Wells Fargo, is a two-phase initiative that includes a two-week boot camp and multi-month fellowship. PCHTF was recently named an authorized partner for Freddie Mac’s Develop the Developer Academy, allowing DTDL to be among the first programs in the country to use the new Freddie Mac multifamily developer curriculum to power a local two-week boot camp.

“We know Polk County has a large need to rehabilitate and construct housing for the purpose of affordability, attainability, and stability. This launchpad will cultivate a talent pipeline of community-centric multifamily developers with the knowledge, resources, relationships, and capability to take on neighborhood-scale housing developments,” said Julian Neely, PCHTF’s director of advancement and community investment.

The two-week boot camp registration is open today and will remain open until November 15, or capacity for the new program is reached. Interested registrants must complete a pre-registration questionnaire to determine eligibility for the program. Participants must be a Polk County resident, demonstrate real estate industry experience, and commit to the two-week classroom experience, and submit a $500 fee at the time of registration. The application and program details are now available at https://pchtf.org/dtdl.

The inaugural boot camp cohort will convene on December 1, 2025. The two-week program will provide participants with foundational knowledge in multifamily development, access to industry experts, and resources to be a community-centric multifamily developer in Polk County.

Boot camp graduates will be eligible to apply for the DTDL’s second phase, a rigorous joint venture development fellowship, beginning in Spring 2026. This experience will pair fellows with seasoned local developers in Polk County to complete a joint venture development.

“We are really thinking ahead in terms of how do we have public private partnerships, to pursue equity and education around being a developer, an experience around being a developer,” said Danny Heggen, one of the local developers who is advising the new effort.

The Develop the Developer Launchpad is a community-focused program involving numerous community partners and real estate industry experts. The following local leaders have volunteered their time to assist PCHTF in developing and offering this new program:

Name	Affiliation
Britney Appelgate	Wells Fargo
Danny Heggen	Dev Partners
Malcolm Hankins	City of Des Moines
Kuuku Saah	Ntonan RE
Marvin DeJear	DeJear, Inc.
Molly Cutler	Cutler Development
Scott Cutler	Cutler Development
Frank Levy	Newbury Living
Jed Gammell	High Street Insurance
Larry James	Conveyance Law
Dan Drendel	Slingshot Architecture
Taylor Hays	Slingshot Architecture
Jake Christensen	Christensen Development
Steve Wilke-Shapiro	Sequel Architecture
James Spiller	Iowa State University
Mike Urquhart	Security National Bank
Joseph Bergman	JLL
Anthony Pawnell	DMACC

Complete program information is available at www.pchtf.org/dtdl or by contacting Julian Neely at jneely@pchtf.org.