Squeeze Play
All too often developers have a relentless urge to squeeze what is viewed as extraneous square footage out of projects during the planning stage in an attempt to stretch the almighty development dollar. It all seems to make sense late at night while brainstorming and penciling out a new pro forma. Let's see ... deduct land cost, fees, construction dollars. How does one hold the line on some of these negative numbers in an effort to pull up the bottom line? An old familiar mind-set begins to develop – call it a hold-the-line mind-set. "We'll make the seller 'hold the line,' the banker too, and while we're at it, let's be really sure those spendy design guys hold the line." Read more
Giving Shelter
For many developers in the multifamily industry the old saying bout them is true – if you give them land, they will build on it. While Marilynn Duker admits that she is a deal junkie at heart, as the president and COO of Shelter Development LLC, she doesn't let herself get talked into a riskier approach. Read more