Menu
- placemakingpodcast@gmail.com
Season 1 of the Podcast Is In The Books with Matt Loos – Ep. 38
This is going to be a fun episode! In this episode, we are going to discuss the most impactful talking points from the entire first season of the show.
This has been a crazy year no-doubt, but we would be remiss not to look back on the lessons learned during this last year. This year, we discussed everything from financing a project to historic tax credits and even transit-oriented developments. The guests that joined me on the show where industry professionals from all over the world and encompassed many of the roles included within the larger commercial real estate umbrella. I’m beyond blessed to be able to speak with these people and share their stories with you all. Stay tuned for even more discussions that will continue to inform and prepare you for this coming year in CRE.
As always, if you have enjoyed the show, please subscribe to the show and share it with your friends. There will be more exciting conversations on the shows to come.
Main Take-Away’s From This Season
This season has been so much fun for me to record. I learned so much from all of the guests that it is nearly impossible for me to pick just one main take-away from each episode, but I will give it a shot. I highly recommend that you search for a topic that most interests you and dive right in. Chances are we have at least somewhat discussed a question you might have in this first season.
If you have a topic that we haven’t discussed yet that you would like to learn more about, please email me with your ideas and questions and I will make it a priority to find a guest that can address your question. Without further ado, let’s try to tackle this season’s greatest lessons!
Episode 002 – Selecting an Architect with Josh Kunkel – You want to select an architect that can speak to your vision. They need to align with your vision and values.
Episode 003 – How to Manage a Ground-Up Development with Cameron Pybus – Communication is extremely valuable throughout the development process. The means of communication often changes throughout the process based on where you are in the process.
Episode 004 – Understanding the Role of a GC on Your Next Ground-Up Development with Bridger Clader – A cohesive team from the bottom-up is absolutely crucial for a development project. From Owner to Developer to GC to Subs, everyone is on the same page. This is where you can find the most successful projects.
Episode 005 – Deciphering Form-Based Code with Mike Brennan, AICP – Euclidean zoning creates districts based on land-use types. Form-Based code encourages mixed-uses as long as they are compatible. The rules are focused on the public realm between the buildings to encourage walkable districts.
Episode 006 – What the Heck is a Geotech with Tim Tarbutton – In preparing a geotechnical investigation of a property, there is a diminishing return on the amount of borings that you do. However, it’s impossible to find every possible issue underground even with a geotechnical exploration.
Episode 007 – Property Taxes and your Development with Alex Pace – Start getting with your local property tax advisor at the very beginning of your deal so that there are no surprises when you begin to develop your property.
Episode 008 – Designing the Future of Transit-Oriented Development with David Leininger – One of the biggest hurdles facing transit-oriented development is the idea that this infrastructure will bring with it the introduction of unruly and mischievous characters that will disrupt the surrounding community. This is simply untrue and can be very toxic.
Episode 009 – From the Golden Gate to the Lone Star State, Finding Opportunity in CRE with Andrew Blake – When you’re starting out in development, it’s absolutely crucial to know the market that you plan to develop in. Learn as much as you can about the community and the various aspects that make it unique. This will help you create value.
Episode 010 – Engineering a Real Estate Development Project with Scott Miller – Your not going to know how to do everything in development, but it’s crucial that you understand how to speak the language so that you can communicate across the various disciplines and to the shareholders involved.
Episode 011 – The Future of Construction Tech in the Digital Age with Aarni Heiskanen – Data is going to be increasingly more important in the construction industry as the various firm’s race to reduce waste and increase productivity on the job site.
Episode 012 – Remember, Floods Know No Lines with Kelli DeFedericis – Before buying a property, it’s best to go ahead and talk with the floodplain administrator in your City even if you think there’s no way you could be in a floodplain. They can often warn you about localized flooding in a specific area that won’t show up on a FEMA map.
Episode 013 – Hiring Real Estate Professionals with Jeff Wittenberg – If you are looking for a job in CRE (or any field for that matter), you need to start building relationships with those in the industry. This takes time, but during this time of Zoom calls and video conferencing, people are often more accessible to meet.
Episode 014 – Tackling Urban Issues with Market Urbanism with Scott Beyer – Market Urbanism advocates for the emergence of bottom-up solutions to urban issues, as opposed to ones imposed from the top down.
Episode 015 – Understanding the Birth of a Building with Ben Stevens – Many of the decisions made by developers are multi-dimensional and can often be difficult to quantify. Often it comes down to the experience of yourself and your design team to help make these decisions.
Episode 016 – Bringing a Taste of Mexico City to his First Project in the States with Omar Diaz – Find a mentor as soon as possible and then build a team of professionals to help prepare you for your first development deal.
Episode 017 – Lessons from a Real Estate Developer, Founder, & Biohacker with Ari Rastegar – We understand that we are influenced by our design. How we exist in the world. Our vantage points are very much response to design. It’s not a new thing. It’s very, it’s very important to understand that.
Episode 018 – Creating Healthy, Intentional, Sustainable Communities with Jamie Limberg – It’s important to understand the business side of development, but it’s even more crucial to learn the people side of the business. When you can connect with individuals on a human level, it will put you on another level in your CRE career. It’s quite simply a “people-business”.
Episode 019 – Digging up the Dirt on Forensic Engineering with Rodolfo Lomas, P.E. – If you are not willing to spend the money to make the fixes necessary when you hire a forensic engineer, it doesn’t make sense to hire the engineer in the first place.
Episode 020 – Development Without Displacement with Demont Campbell, Jr. – Reach out to others that are doing the things you want to do in real estate. You will often be surprised how much others will want to help you on your mission as long as you put in the sweat equity and provide mutual benefits.
Episode 021 – Understanding Underwriting Criteria from a Banks Perspective with Tony Holzbach – There are two parts to every loan, who is the sponsor, and what is their guarantee worth? Are they personally invested in the project?
Episode 022 – Decoding FEMA Firm Panels & the Law of 1% with Elizabeth Fountain, P.E., CFM – There are various means of changing the FEMA flood maps and each one of those has various criteria for achieving the map revisions. Each one varying in difficulty and scope.
Episode 023 – Exploring Adventures in Commercial Real Estate with Spencer Burton – Even if you don’t have experience in CRE but want to get into the field, you can build a portfolio of potential projects that you have analyzed to provide potential employers to show that you understand the financial analysis portion of the industry.
Episode 024 – Historic Tax Credits & Preserving Integrity in Structures with Dak Hatfield, CCIM, PMP – Having a network of individuals that you can call on when you have questions is extremely important in CRE and it’s how Dak was able to stay abreast of new trends in real estate.
Episode 025 – Exploring Alternative Lending for Your Next Real Estate Development Project with Antoin Watson – The different types of loans can consist of either debt funding or equity funding. Debt funding allows the developer to obtain financing without surrendering any equity (value) in the project. Equity funding is considered a little more risky investment for most investors as the investor owns a “share” of the asset better known as equity.
Episode 026 – Pitching your Next Real Estate Development Deal with Evan Knox – When you are pitching your next deal, remember that you are not the Hero; you are the Guide.
Episode 027 – Seeing the Future of 3D Printing in Construction with Scott Denney – 3D printing could allow for more efficient designs once structural codes and designers are able to catch up to the technology.
Episode 028 – LEED-ing the Way with Sustainable Design in Architecture with Casey and Michael – In order to truly design a LEED Certified building, sustainable discussions need to be made early in the design process.
Episode 029 – Setting our Sights on Understanding Land Surveys with Daniel Arthur, RPLS – Understanding the needs of your financial institution when ordering various items on the Table A list for ALTA’s is extremely important.
Episode 030 – Understanding the Property Developer’s Mindset with Justin Gehde – As a real estate developer, you are the conductor of the orchestra, not the violinist.
Episode 031 – Understanding Real Estate Valuations for Development with Dillon Cook – There is a lot that goes into determining a property’s “highest and best use”. Many of these aspects are not always clearly apparent.
Episode 032 – Developing Housing Solutions Where People can Flourish with Tyler Arbogast – Housing Authorities do much more than just distribute vouchers to those in need.
Episode 033 – Financing Developments that Create Great Places with Ward Davis – In this time of turmoil, investors seem to be looking for consistent returns. Not necessarily the highest initial returns.
Episode 034 – Creating Desirable Places through Property Assemblage with Chris Powers, Jr. – Barbells are not just for lifting. Utilizing the “Barbell Theory” to find your next project.
Episode 035 – How to Bring Stunning Historic Buildings to Life Using Tax Credits with Elizabeth Rosin – When coupled with the state programs, the historic tax credits could provide a tax credit of 40% to 50% of the value of the approved qualified expenditures.
Episode 036 – Taking a Deep Dive into Underground Detention with Steve Messina – Underground detention can be utilized as a stormwater quality and quantity control device.
Episode 037 – Making it in Real Estate from a Lawyer turned Developer with John McNellis – All you have is time. The goal is to get the most return on your time.
As you can see from the takeaways above, this season of the Placemaking Podcast was full of amazing information on making it in real estate development and absolutely provides actionable steps you can take on your next real estate development project. If you would like to learn more about the main takeaways from the shows above, be sure to check out the page for each and listen to the show! We’ll continue to provide take-aways from each episode as we move forward into Season #2. As always, if you have enjoyed the content and the show, please subscribe to the show below and share with your friends! We’ll have many more great discussions on the shows to come.
Recommended Books from this Season
P.S. We spend (a lot) of time, sweat, tears, and money creating each episode of The Placemaking Podcast. We do this without the support of sponsors as we want to keep the advertisements out of the picture and provide an add-free listening experience. YOUR support ensures we can keep delivering these discussions ad-free!
If you feel compelled to donate to the show (and receive some cool bonuses…) you can check out my Patron Page.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:00 — 17.7MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | TuneIn | RSS | More