How It Works
$250 a month. A town for life.
URBAL is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform. You pledge $250/month toward a specific town. If 20 million people pledge the same town and the $5B raise closes, construction begins. If it fails, every dollar is refunded. No risk. The raise is the filter.
The Process
Six Steps from Pledge to Move-In
Pledge $250/month
Create your profile and pledge $250/month toward a specific town. Your pledge is held in escrow — never touched until the raise hits $5B. Full refund if the raise fails.
Pledge is not a charitable donation. It is a prepayment toward a Limited Equity Contract (LEC) for your dwelling unit.
Complete the Preference UI
After pledging, you fill out the multi-step preference wizard: dwelling type, employer preferences, business preferences (Tier 1/2/3), and community priorities.
Preferences are not binding — they determine your initial matching score and inform the town's business development pipeline.
The $5B Raise Closes
When cumulative pledges hit $5B (approximately 20 million pledgers at $250/month for 1 year), the raise closes. The OCIO bank competition begins. A winning county is announced on Labor Day.
3% of the raise ($1.5B) is escrowed for CLT land acquisition. $1.2B in 529 accounts for county children is funded on Labor Day.
Selection & Matching
The Quiet Council selection process allocates LECs to pledgers. Your selection score (dwelling preference match, term multiplier, pledge duration, household composition) determines your rank within each dwelling category.
Selection is not purely first-come-first-served. A 16-year LEC commitment earns a 1.25× multiplier.
Construction (36 months)
Town 001 is a single URB Bunch — 4 contiguous town squares, ~210,000 residents at full buildout. Construction is funded from the raise escrow. Stone construction only — no concrete or steel for habitable surfaces.
The Bouquet Garnier (4 Bunches) builds over 8 sequential raises.
Move In — Key Day
On Key Day, LECs activate. You receive your dwelling key and begin paying the monthly fee ($1,065/month for a 2BR at 1,200 sqft). The fee covers everything: energy, water, waste, fiber, healthcare, education, governance.
No property taxes. No utility bills. No separate health insurance. The fee is all-inclusive and based on sqft — not market value.
The Raise Calendar
Every Year, One Town
URBAL runs one raise per year. Each raise builds one Bunch (4 towns). The calendar is fixed: January raise open, Labor Day announcement, Key Day move-in.
Raise opens for Town 001
Pledges begin accumulating. The $5B target is public.
Employer & business pledges
Businesses submit job pledges and appear in the preference UI as they're approved.
$5B threshold crossed
Escrow locks. OCIO bank competition begins. No new pledges accepted for this raise cycle.
County announced + 529 funded
$1.2B in 529 custodial accounts funded for all public school children in the winning county.
Key Day — move in
LECs activate. First residents take occupancy. Monthly fee billing begins.
Raise opens for Bunch 2
Second raise targets the adjacent Bunch. Existing Town 001 residents can pledge additional units.
Raise Failure
Full Refund. No Exceptions.
If the raise closes without hitting $5B, every pledger receives a full refund of all monthly payments. The escrow structure makes this mechanically guaranteed — funds are never commingled with URBAL operating accounts.
Escrow-only structure
All pledge payments are held by an independent OCIO custodian bank, not by URBAL Platform LLC. URBAL cannot access pledge funds — they are released only upon raise success.
No partial builds
URBAL does not begin construction until the full $5B is in escrow. There is no partial raise scenario — either the full amount is raised, or everything is refunded.
IRS Private Letter Ruling
URBAL has secured a Private Letter Ruling confirming that pledge payments are not charitable donations and are fully refundable. The tax treatment is defined before a single dollar is collected.
The Long Arc
8 Raises. 4 Bunches. 844,000 Residents.
A full Bouquet Garnier — 36 square miles, 4 Bunches, 16 Towns — builds over 8 sequential raises. Each raise is one year. The full buildout takes approximately 8 years from first raise to final Key Day.
4
Bunches per Bouquet
16
Towns per Bouquet (4 per Bunch)
~52,750
residents per Town at full build
844,000
total Bouquet residents