I met Greg Ugalde on a sunny afternoon in Detroit, after we both missed the bus from the hotel to the National Association of Home Builders conference. Rather than wait around for the next one, we walked the riverfront together, and that walk turned into one of the richest conversations I’ve had on this show.
Greg started out as a real estate lawyer before teaming up with his longtime partner to build over 4,000 homes across Connecticut and New England. Along the way he worked his way up through the Home Builders Association, eventually serving as national chairman of the NAHB. Today he sits on his state’s Housing Finance Authority and advises the governor’s Department of Housing, all while still showing up alongside his son on active job sites.
“I’ve always had a number of business interests… But my real focus has been building homes and developing land with a special focus on housing affordability.”
Early on, we get into a number that’s stuck with me since I first heard it: 27% of the cost of a new home traces back to government red tape. Greg breaks down where that figure actually comes from, things like building codes and permitting fees, plus a stack of inspection costs most buyers never see, and clears up a common assumption about where that money really goes.
“At nahb.org you can get these charts and see that these are real numbers, and it goes from the local, state, and federal levels. When we say 27%, if you take the average price of a home, it’s actually over $130,000 increase per home.”
From there, the conversation moves to density, and why the size of a lot shapes a home’s price more than most buyers realize. Greg explains how splitting one expensive parcel into several smaller ones changes what a builder can offer, and what that means for towns trying to keep their own kids able to afford living nearby.
“Density is one of the big parts of it… if you can increase the number of homes that are allowed on any individual parcel, you’re gonna drive down the cost of building, because that’s where it starts.”
That naturally leads us into the tug of war every builder feels between neighbors who want nothing to change and buyers who need somewhere affordable to live. Greg has spent years in rooms where that exact tension gets argued out loud, and he shares how he finds common ground between people who came into the meeting convinced there isn’t any.
“They’ve already got theirs in many cases, so step one is to make sure everybody’s educated enough so that they realize that, yes, you may have yours, but how about your kids, your relatives, and the people that you want living in your community?”
Workforce comes up too, the part of this industry that rarely makes headlines but shapes every schedule on every job site. Greg has watched the average plumber and electrician get older year after year, and talks about what it will take to bring a new generation into the trades.
“You look at the average age of our plumbers and electricians, it’s 55 years old… If that starts going away, if people are opting for other professions… we’re losing many people in our workforce.”
Then comes the story from Wallingford. Greg had 78 approved lots and a waiting list of buyers, with subcontractors already lined up to break ground, when the mayor called and tried to claw the project back after the approvals were already signed. How Greg handled becoming the public face of that fight, and what he chose to say and not say along the way, is one of the best stretches of this entire conversation.
“We went into one community where we got approvals… 78 lots in a great town. It was Wallingford… We had a waiting list. Everybody was interested. So the mayor calls us in and says, ‘We’re gonna just take it. You approved it. It’s approved. We’ve already spent that money.’”
We also get into the careful art of testifying in front of a planning board or a packed public hearing, where every word can be picked apart and repeated back to you in a very different light. Greg talks about learning to sit on his hands and let the facts do the talking, even when every instinct told him to say more.
“You always have to be careful because you’re going to be on record, especially at public hearings. When you start going down that road, be very careful, because they could take the same exact thing that you’ve said and turn it six different ways… You’re better off having patience.”
We wrap up talking about what Greg would tell a 27-year-old version of himself walking into homebuilding today, the people he still leans on for advice decades into his career, and the one thing his own family keeps asking him to slow down on.
“Never get too married to one concept or one idea. Be open-minded and look for whatever life has to offer.”
“For me, it’s always about helping others and treating others like I want to be treated… I keep taking on more and more instead of leveling off a bit… My wife’s challenging me to calm down a little bit. You’re not supposed to be going 400 miles an hour every day for your entire life.”
Greg has spent years in rooms most builders never get access to, sitting with governors and the legislators writing the rules that shape this industry. He brought all of that into this conversation, and I think you’ll walk away from it seeing your own market a little differently.
About Greg Ugalde
Gregory F. Ugalde is President and Chief Legal Officer of T&M Building Co., Inc., a builder and developer that has built over 4000 homes in 45+ communities since its founding in 1962. In addition, he is the founder and owner of GFU Investments, LLC, a builder/developer minority owned business that focuses on affordable and workforce housing.
The CT Governor recently appointed Ugalde to be Senior Advisor to the CT Department of Housing. In addition, he is the incoming President of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of the Connecticut River Region and was inducted into the National Housing Hall of Fame in 2025, and awarded the “Foundation of Housing Award” in 2026.
Ugalde, CGP, GMB, was the only six-year NAHB Senior Officer, and served as the NAHB 2019 Chairman. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for both the Home Builders Institute (HBI) and the National Housing Endowment (NHE), which he also serves as Chairman and Trustee.
Ugalde has expanded into off-site construction and multifamily, and serves in many capacities, including on the CHFA Board of Directors and the Governor’s Workforce Council, and served in positions including on the Commission on CT’s Future and Development, and on the Governor’s Blue-Ribbon Commission on Affordable Housing.
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