Category Archives: Uncategorized

Townhomes- Is a one car garage enough?

I remember when- It was about 7 years ago and we had just finished a very successful 75-unit townhouse project in Palm Beach Gardens. It was an unusual product because the homes were 30 feet wide allowing for a two-car garage and plenty of floor planning variety. Basically, I was spoiled with all two carContinue reading “Townhomes- Is a one car garage enough?”

A Disappointing year in Construction- where do we go from here.

All things considered residential building and construction had great sales numbers, but not much to be proud of otherwise. Construction was not fun this year! With great sales in a contradictory time everyone should be happy – right? Not so fast, construction was NO fun this year and the year before as well. I’m sureContinue reading “A Disappointing year in Construction- where do we go from here.”

Lakes are key to getting the biggest bang for your drainage buck. You have to do anyway

Drainage requirements generally dictate some type of wet retention. Not everyone wants dry retention. Wet retention, what is it? Wet retention comes in the form of lakes and wetlands. The requirement for wetlands over a lake generally occurs when you are reconfiguring an existing wetland where it makes sense on your site plan. If youContinue reading “Lakes are key to getting the biggest bang for your drainage buck. You have to do anyway”

Two minus four equals two. Hail to the duplex and Villa Diamante

Being flexible with your product. Every now and then a good piece of property comes along that needs a little imagination. Such was the case with a project we designed in Jupiter on a little over 3 acres of land. The layout was originally platted as odd ball sized single family lots on Old JupiterContinue reading “Two minus four equals two. Hail to the duplex and Villa Diamante”

Risk Tolerance- Risk caused by government is hard to avoid and is growing out of control- Part 3 of 3

There’s a saying in our business- building the product is the easy part. Dealing with local governments during entitlement is the hardest and least desirable part of the process. Entitling a project means getting the zoning, land use and density you need. Why is that? Well, it was not always this way and is notContinue reading “Risk Tolerance- Risk caused by government is hard to avoid and is growing out of control- Part 3 of 3”

Risk Tolerance- How I cut my risk when considering a new project.

These are products I no longer build. No condos– For a builder and developer, condominiums pose risk for the building part of the business, the development part of the business and the selling part of the entire formula. As a builder, these taller and larger structures have added liability to the actual building structure andContinue reading “Risk Tolerance- How I cut my risk when considering a new project.”

Inflation is back but why are rates still low? Prices are climbing too.

It has been a while since inflation has been a factor. However, now we are seeing mass increases across the board in computer chips, construction materials, gas and oil and land to build on. We are not talking about small increases either. Let’s take a couple of items that I am familiar with from residentialContinue reading “Inflation is back but why are rates still low? Prices are climbing too.”

What in the world happened in Surfside last week? Part 2

As a GC and developer even, I am amazed at some of the buildings that humans erect around the world. There are so many eye popping architecturally pleasing buildings around the world that we all enjoy just looking at. Design is important but it must follow form and have sound engineering to keep buildings safeContinue reading “What in the world happened in Surfside last week? Part 2”