From 1994 leading up to the Crash, we provided Construction Management oversight for a prominent Builder-Developer. Projects were all garden style multifamily, with 9-foot ceilings, which were an upgraded feature at that time. The genius of this model was that the same four to six unit floor plans were used on all projects, in various combinations.  This made for efficient designs and fast schedules, which were greatly appreciated by our subcontractors. They responded by providing us with the best pricing in the industry, since they knew they would be in and out quickly, with their retainage checks in hand, long before their other projects were in the finish stages.

The total portfolio completed was about 2,200 units.

During the crash, it was renovation time as new construction stopped cold.  Working for a large apartment developer based in Minnesota, we provided general contracting services on renovations of acquisitions of distressed apartments that were in the low-income tax credit program (LIHTC).  The most ambitious of these renovation projects was the re-plumbing of an entire 145 unit property…. while it was occupied.  Our scope began as repairing units where the polybutylene pipe had sprung leaks and flooded everything below. After about 8 of these the owner decided to proactively replace all the polybutylene pipe on the project.  Can’t say I would do that again.

The total size of the renovated portfolio was about 1,300 units.

Coming out of the crash, it was back to providing Construction Management services for a large commercial real estate firm that wanted to get into the apartment development space. After getting bids from numerous general contractors, they decided to go the Builder-Developer route.  Projects were garden style, with high end finishes and high end amenities.

The total portfolio completed was about 600 units.

We then worked with a large multi-national apartment owner, that wanted to get into ground-up development.  We provided Owner’s Representation services, as their model was to hire third-party general contractors to build their projects.  These projects were a mix of midrise urban infill, garden style and midrise around structured parking.  These were ultra high-end, Class A+ units with ridiculously (my opinion) extravagant amenities.

Total portfolio completed and under construction was about 1,250 units.