One Man's Plan to Expand Cheap Housing and Make Money Doing It

On a recent afternoon in Prince George’s County, Maryland, a bleak economic trend met a tantalizing investment thesis.

Inside the community center at the Regency Pointe Apartments, a complex of 599 units set in low-slung buildings about 20 minutes from Washington, nurses from a nearby medical clinic were screening residents for cholesterol and high blood pressure. Just outside, a Zumba instructor was leading two dozen neighborhood children in an exercise class. A uniformed Sheriff’s Department officer looked on, chatting with residents and tracking police radio reports that a suspect wielding an AR-15 assault rifle was wandering nearby streets.