About

We Are Creators

Our business is built on creativity and constantly questioning conventional wisdom.

“At our core, we are creators, driven to create transformative places, value for our partners, and a lasting positive impact on our community.”

Joseph Bonora, President

Who We Are

Sharp Shooters

Catalyst Community Development is a Florida-based real estate development and investment management firm specializing in the development and operation of large scale multifamily, mixed-use, and transformative special-use projects.

Our development approach is driven by an intense focus on placemaking, community engagement, and long-term strategic thinking. Our competitive advantage is our ability to successfully tackle highly complex opportunities, including large-scale mixed-use projects that utilize a variety of economic development incentives and P3 structures. Since 2013 we have delivered 1,881 multifamily and seniors housing units and over 20,000 square feet of commercial space totaling $365M+ across Southwest Florida.

Our Core Tenets

The ideas that form the foundation of our business

P4: Pioneering Through Public-Private Partnership

We believe meaningful development often requires the courage to move first, but pioneering should not mean taking unnecessary risk. We enter emerging markets with conviction, pairing private-sector vision and execution with public-sector investment, incentives, and shared priorities. We call this approach P4: Pioneer–Public–Private Partnership; a collaborative model that reduces early-mover risk, aligns public and private interests, and creates the momentum needed to transform overlooked opportunities into vibrant places.

Design and Placemaking Central to the Plan

We believe successful development is about more than creating buildings, it is about creating places where people feel connected and want to spend time. From the beginning of the planning process, we consider not only the architecture, but also the spaces between the buildings and how people will live, work, gather, and interact. Thoughtful design, walkable public spaces, engaging amenities, curated uses, and authentic connections to the surrounding community are central to every plan. By giving equal attention to a place’s physical design and its social, cultural, and experiential character, we create destinations with a distinct identity and lasting value.

Details are Everything

We are not a scale-driven company; we are selective by design. We limit the number of projects and engagements we undertake so we can bring sustained focus, senior-level attention, and precision to each one. From zoning, design, and construction to financing, marketing, and community engagement, we examine every component and pursue every opportunity to strengthen the outcome. This disciplined, detail-oriented approach allows us to anticipate challenges, uncover value others may overlook, and execute complex projects with purpose.

How We Work

Approach and Capital

Our Approach

Catalyst runs the full development cycle, from site selection and entitlement through construction, lease-up, and stabilization. We are selective by design, which is what allows every project to carry senior-level attention across zoning, design, financing, construction, and community engagement.

How We Work →

Capital and Incentives

Capital is part of the design rather than something added after it. We pair conventional debt and equity with tax increment financing, public-private partnerships, and local, state, and federal credit programs to close the feasibility gaps that conventional financing alone cannot.

Creativity in Capital Formation →

Our People

Management Team

The Catalyst team brings diversified backgrounds and a broad range of expertise across finance and development. We have been executing transactions together for over a decade. Select a name to read more.

Joseph Bonora

President

Executive

Joseph Bonora is the founder and President of Catalyst. Joe has over 25 years of experience in real estate finance and development, and is responsible for managing the strategic direction of the Catalyst companies and identifying new development and investment opportunities. Joe is particularly well versed in utilizing local, state and federal government funding and tax credit programs, including TIF, HUD, LIHTC, NMTC and other letters of the alphabet.

Prior to forming Catalyst, Joe was the co-founder of Aileron Investment Management, a real estate development and specialty finance firm focused on multifamily, senior housing and mixed-use properties, and the origination of government guaranteed loans. Joe led Aileron in providing over $660 million in small business and commercial real estate loans nationwide, and developing over $200 million in multifamily and commercial real estate projects in Florida.

Joe is the Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Lee County, and a member of the St. Petersburg Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Joe lives in St. Petersburg, FL with his two children. He is an average golfer, frustrated artist, and a retired boxer and Muay Thai fighter with a deviated septum and arthritis in his hands to show for it.

Reid Jaeger

Managing Director of Real Estate Development

Development

Reid Jaeger is the Managing Director of Real Estate Development at Catalyst. In this role, Reid is responsible for managing the ground-up development process for the company's market rate multifamily projects, acting as the company's central point of contact between the design team, sub-contractors, vendors, government agencies, and the property management team.

Prior to joining Catalyst, Reid was the Real Estate Portfolio Manager for Forge Capital Partners, where he was responsible for creating and overseeing customized asset management strategies for investment properties owned or developed by the firm. Before that, Reid was a Commercial Credit Analyst with Aileron Capital Management, a national specialty finance company with expertise in government guaranteed loan programs including SBA and USDA Business & Industry loans.

Reid obtained his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Florida State University, and a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Tampa. Reid lives in Tampa with his wife and two children. He is a better golfer than Joe, but less skilled in martial arts.

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