Graham Kalbli said his firm’s mission is to put a person in every vacant building and put a building on every vacant lot. In a city where there are plenty of people, buildings and vacant lots, Graham's New Republic Architecture has an opportunity in the market. Graham, a West Side Cincinnati native, founded New Republic in 2014 after working for 14 years in the industry locally at CR Architecture & Design. The architecture and design firm that Graham runs primarily works on projects in urban areas that have a housing component. For Graham, adding more residents and providing new and upgraded single-family homes, condominiums, and apartments is vital to Cincinnati's survival. “The core building blocks of cities are its people and we need more people in the urban core and that translates to housing,” he said. "Whether it be a historic rehab, condos, market rate or affordable, whatever it takes to get more people here." Although Graham's family comes from a real estate development and construction background, they wanted him to foster his creative and artistic talents. He later studied urban planning at the University of Cincinnati and architecture at Miami University. The experiences, combined with a passion developed in childhood, gave him insight on what makes cities work and how they can be enhanced. One of the biggest early boosts Graham said his firm received was from the developer Model Group, which tapped New Republic to help design how three dilapidated vacant buildings in Walnut Hills could be restored to residences and commercial spaces. The $10 million project brought 30 new apartments into the neighborhood and helped jumpstart other development opportunities nearby. “Trevarren Flats, it helped launch us," he said. "We’re thankful to Model Group for that." Since that time, Graham said the firm has been growing its portfolio and reputation with residential projects in Oakley, Downtown, Mt. Adams, Over-the-Rhine, Clifton Heights and other locations as well.