FAQ
The Questions Developers Ask
Written for the person carrying the pro forma.
Bring the site, the unit count and the drawings at whatever stage. You get a range, the drivers, and an honest read on the pro forma.
FAQ
Multifamily and mixed-use construction in Florida
- When should we bring in a GC?
- Entitlement or early DD. By bid the cost decisions are already made.
- Which typology is cheapest per unit?
- Garden, generally — and it only works where land is cheap enough to spread out.
- What is the biggest podium risk?
- Everything below the transfer slab. Dewatering and excavation especially.
- Do you self-perform below-grade?
- Yes. Dewatering, SOE and deep foundations.
- Is concrete worth the premium?
- Near the coast, frequently, once maintenance over the hold period is in the model.
- Where should contingency sit?
- A visible line with a written drawdown process and owner approval per draw.
- Does contingency cover contractor errors?
- It should not, and with us it does not.
- Why do draws get rejected?
- Lien waivers, stored materials and reconciliation. Ask your lender for their last three rejection reasons.
- Who carries escalation?
- It should be explicit in the contract. Shared with a threshold and cap is usually honest.
- What is early buyout?
- Buying volatile materials at award to lock price. Costs cash flow, buys certainty.
- What causes most delay?
- Permitting, below-grade conditions, long-lead equipment. Order switchgear and elevators absurdly early.
- Can retail go in later on a mixed-use?
- Only if grease and exhaust routing was designed in. Retrofitting through residential is often impossible.
- What kills adaptive reuse?
- Floor plate depth. Test-fit before the pro forma hardens.
- Will you price without borings?
- Not below grade.
- Will you tell us the deal does not work?
- Yes, at entitlement. It costs us the project and it is the right time to say it.
Still not answered?
Call (954) 807-3208. If the deal does not work at these numbers, that is what you will be told at entitlement rather than at bid.
What we build
Garden Apartments
Two to three story wood frame with surface parking. The cheapest way to build a unit in Florida, and it only works where land is cheap enough to spread out.
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Wrap & Texas Donut
Residential wrapped around a freestanding parking structure. More density than garden without the cost of building over the parking.
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Podium
Concrete parking and ground-floor uses below, wood-framed residential above. The workhorse of urban multifamily, and the typology where Florida ground conditions bite hardest.
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Mid-Rise Concrete
Cast-in-place or precast concrete throughout. More expensive per square foot than wood and often the right answer anyway — particularly near the water.
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Mixed-Use
Ground-floor commercial with residential above. Structurally one building, operationally two, and the complexity lives in the seam between them.
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Adaptive Reuse
Office, hotel or warehouse converted to residential. Occasionally excellent value and frequently more expensive than building new, and the difference is decided by the existing structure.
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Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.