About Us

Civitas Development Group takes a unique approach to real estate development that sets it apart. Darin Hall takes the time and effort to understand the community needs and bridges it with the community’s private capital needs to bring a full complement of solutions that are sustainable. Civitas Development leads projects through an equity lens. Most developers don’t get that.

Because of Darin’s vast experience and proven track record, he has the ability to provide strategy and also the discipline to execute on the strategy. He can do both, which is unique.

Normally, you have to find niche players to fit within the process.

Similar to many communities with expanding populations, Central Ohio is experiencing a shortage of affordable housing. As a response to this growing need, in 2018 the leaders of Franklin County and the City of Columbus supported the creation of the Central Ohio Community Land Trust (COCLT).

The vision was to quickly get new homes out of the ground and ready to sell affordably. We recognized that the pace of revitalization in our neighborhoods was going to leave people behind, and we knew it was vital to create a path to homeownership for our low- and moderate-income neighbors, who ought to be included in opportunities to build wealth.

Civitas Development Group’s project leadership role in bringing the first 20 COCLT homes online contributed significantly to the project’s success. As a lender, as a program investment officer, and as a developer, Darin Hall has worked throughout his career to lift distressed areas out of poverty. As we worked to create this new shared equity homeownership model in Columbus, we relied on Darin’s insight and deep knowledge of public and private partnerships.

This initial project with the City of Columbus, NCRC’s GROWTH, Rockford Homes and Civitas Development Group has been wildly successful. To other cities that are working to solve the housing affordability crisis, I wholly recommend including a professional like Darin on your dream team. We now have 20 new first-time homeowners who will have an asset to pass on to the next generation in their families. That is a return on investment we consider to be priceless.

In addition to being an amazing thought-leader and community development visionary, Darin Hall is my friend and someone from whom I often seek sound advice and business counsel. Darin and I met through the esteemed Leadership Cincinnati experience, and as a member of Class 37, I quickly recognized Darin as an impactful development leader at his role at the Port Authority, bringing significant development finance and revitalization leadership to work in under-resourced neighborhoods throughout Cincinnati and Hamilton County. On a number of occasions, Darin has shared his lived experiences as a Black professional with me and it has broadened my own insights on race and equity in a significant way.

As Silverton began a gateway economic development project at Montgomery and Stewart roads, I consulted with Darin throughout the project’s planning and development milestones. The Port ultimately did not play a role, but Darin has been a steadfast adviser from the beginning. He is a valuable resource because he can look at a project from multiple sides and bridge communication gaps among the development team, the municipality, and the lenders. His involvement ultimately makes a project more successful for everyone. I have tapped his mind to help me understand how a developer is viewing a Silverton project, because I might not be fully appreciating their point of view. He can see it from their vantage point in a way that no one else has been able to do for me.