Kaufman & Company has announced BUILD 2030, a national development initiative that integrates the company's housing, real estate, construction, technology, and AI infrastructure operations into a single investment and development strategy. The initiative reflects a growing recognition that America's next infrastructure cycle will be defined not only by traditional projects like roads and bridges but also by two critical needs: housing and computing infrastructure to support an AI-driven economy.
"Everyone is talking about the AI infrastructure boom, but infrastructure cannot only be about machines," said Daniel Kaufman, Founder and Principal of Kaufman & Company. "If we're going to build infrastructure for AI, we should be equally serious about building infrastructure for people."
The strategy leverages Kaufman's more than 25 years of development experience, representing over $2 billion in project value and more than 10,000 housing units developed. BUILD 2030 will coordinate projects across the company's platform, which includes residential development, build-to-rent, workforce and affordable housing, custom housing, commercial and hospitality development, AI infrastructure, real estate advisory, and venture capital.
Central to the initiative is the concept of "infrastructure convergence." Kaufman notes that housing and AI infrastructure share common requirements: land, power, transportation, entitlement expertise, construction capacity, and capital. "The real estate industry still tends to put everything into separate boxes: multifamily, build-to-rent, affordable housing, data centers, technology," Kaufman explained. "We don't see it that way. We see land, infrastructure, housing, technology and capital increasingly colliding. BUILD 2030 is our response to that."
The initiative also emphasizes community impact. When evaluating future AI infrastructure locations, Kaufman & Company plans to explore opportunities where data center investments can support broader economic development, including workforce housing, community improvements, and local employment. "We don't want to be the developer that arrives in a community, consumes power and leaves behind a box," Kaufman said. "The better model is to ask what else our investment can unlock for the people who already live there."
This approach could set a new standard for how AI infrastructure is developed, particularly as data centers face increasing scrutiny over their energy use and community impact. By integrating housing and AI infrastructure, Kaufman aims to create synergies that benefit both technology companies and local residents. The company's existing platform, which includes a venture portfolio developing real estate technology, positions it to execute on this vision.
"We've spent 25 years building real estate. The next 25 will be about building the infrastructure around it," Kaufman added. BUILD 2030 will serve as the connective strategy across Kaufman & Company's businesses as it pursues its next generation of projects and partnerships. For more information on Kaufman & Company's integrated platform, visit Kaufman & Company.
