Best Minds: Steve Nygren
September 30, 2025
By Gregg Logan, Managing Director, RCLCO
How can we build more connected, sustainable, and joyful communities?
In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, Managing Director Gregg Logan sits down with ...
By Gregg Logan, Managing Director, RCLCO
How can we build more connected, sustainable, and joyful communities?
In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, Managing Director Gregg Logan sits down with Steve Nygren, the visionary developer behind Serenbe, a pioneering biophilic community just outside Atlanta, that’s become a national model for sustainable, wellness-centered living.
Steve’s upcoming book, Start in Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where We Live with Radical Common Sense (out Oct 7), is both memoir and manual — a call to action for anyone looking to make meaningful change in their community.
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“There’s an idea, you know, a preconception that people do not want live next to each other anymore. Well, maybe it isn’t for everyone, but my goodness, we have shown that there is a huge part of the market that’s not being addressed. We’re having people here from all over the country because they are craving places that actually are walkable and connect to nature at the same time. ”
– Steve on the desire for closer knit and nature-centered communities
Steve shares the extraordinary story of how a simple weekend drive turned into a movement to reimagine how we live, one rooted in connection to nature, community, and human well-being. From his early days revolutionizing Atlanta’s dining scene to orchestrating the zoning and planning that made Serenbe possible, Steve unpacks what it really takes to challenge the status quo and build new home communities that enhance people’s lives while practicing environmental sustainability.
In this conversation we cover the following topics:
- The origins of Serenbe and its biophilic design principles
- How thoughtful land use planning can create long term value while combating sprawl
- Why many of society’s biggest health and social issues trace back to how (and where) we live
- What developers, planners, and everyday citizens can do to create better places — starting in their own backyard
“I many times say our our zoning has been so sanitized over these last decades that it’s taken the vitality out of where we live…[At Serenbe] we have the single family house across from attached houses (townhouses) and then catty corner from that are our live-works….And then next to that on the on the forth quadrant of the intersection is a purely commercial building, our restaurant, the Glide Daisy. This was a very common mix of uses pre 1930, yet it’s very difficult to find any zoning laws that allow that kind of interaction.”
– Steve on the importance of mixed-use zoning
Photos of Serenbe
Photo credit: Gregg Logan
About Steve Nygren
Founder and CEO, Serenbe
Steve Nygren is the Founder and CEO of Serenbe, a wellness community created as a model to demonstrate that preserving green space interlaced with agriculture, housing and retail is not only economically viable, but the future of community wellbeing. He is also a Partner at Nygren Placemaking consulting and a serial hospitality entrepreneur. Steve led the effort to create the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance bringing together landowners, developers, and conservationists for a mutually agreed upon solution for balanced growth across 40,000 acres. This effort resulted in a historic Georgia land use plan adopted to preserve 70% of the acreage on the edge of Atlanta while providing 20% more housing than traditional yield of suburban sprawl. His work has earned him the 2025 MLK Jr. Beloved Community Environmental Justice Award for his commitment to sustainability, equity, and environmental stewardship, reflecting Dr. King’s vision, in addition to the Global Wellness Institute’s Leader in Innovation Award and Southface’s Argon Award as well as recognition from the Urban Land Institute and the Atlanta Regional Commission. He was also named Georgia Trend’s Most Respected Business Leader for 2019. Steve currently serves on multiple local and national boards dealing with children, agriculture and environmental issues including The Ray C. Anderson Foundation, Children & Nature Network, Chattahoochee Now and The Biophilic Institute. Steve releases his first book, Start in Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where We Live with Radical Common Sense, describing his journey in creating Serenbe and the steps readers can take to take action in their own communities in the fall of 2025.
About Gregg Logan
Managing Director, RCLCO
Gregg Logan is a Managing Director at RCLCO, with over 40 years of experience in the industry. His expertise spans residential and commercial real estate, with particular expertise on mixed-use developments and master planned communities that incorporate residential, retail, office, industrial and distribution space.
Gregg acts as a Project Director overseeing and providing expert input to RCLCO real estate consulting assignments, both domestically and internationally. He has managed RCLCO consulting assignments across the United States and internationally, particularly in South and Central American and the Caribbean.
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