Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Innovation and Vision: Keys to Success in Real Estate Development

Mr. Trella’s presentation to the class was very informative. I loved how he started with the history Residential Development. In the beginning of his presentation he stated “If you don’t know your history you’re doomed to repeat yourself.” Seeing that I don’t have an extensive background in development I really appreciated how he went back and explained William Levitt’s version of the American Dream. Levitt’s vision of live, work, play in the 1960s was very innovative and is modeled today.  Not only did Mr. Trella educate us on the type of planned community development that was taking place in the north, but he educated us on the laws. An important factor that impacted develop was Interstate Highway systems. The implementation of these highways created various development opportunities from 1950-1960. Mr. Trella gave great examples of how real estate development has evolved from the 1950-2000s. After planned communities in the 1950s and 1960s Homeowners associations, shopping centers, and schools saturated the market in the 1970s. In the 1980s there was very little visionary expansion because developers kept building the same things. Once the 1990s hit the population exploded and Sprawl became the big problem. Sprawl was where a good number of the population made long commutes to work every day which in return caused environmental concern and cut down the time people were spending with their families. Interstates were a vital part of development in the 1950s but people started to feel the effects of commuting. During the 2000s Sustainability and green development is the trend. More people are concerned with how building and living effects the environment. Planning departments are also concerned about how many jobs will be created from development projects as well as what positive impacts it will have on households and income.

As an aspiring developer some of the challenges and advice Mr. Trella shared I will keep in mind. He stated that one challenge developers are going to face is how to anticipate population growth and have the right solutions. One point Mr. Trella reiterated throughout his presentation is how as a developer you need to be a visionary. If you want to be successful you can’t look back at what been successful but be innovative. He encouraged us to think about the big picture and what type of impact and fingerprint we want to leave on the world long after were gone. It got me to thinking about how the idea of Suburban- Urban is the trend now… But what’s next? 

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