Do you Archinecters know any large firms that do architecture, construction and real estate? I'm specifically searching for firms that are "their own clients", meaning that they design and build houses/condos (financed by themselves and/or external investors) and then sell, or even better, rent their own units.
That's what I see myself doing in a few (many) years, when I'm out of school, and so, I'm wondering if such companies already exist.
I think many have the same idea. But you need money to make money. If you find a company that does that let me know. I like to know how they start up. Having said that I do know a college who used to work for a company who does that kind of stuff but the Architect partners are in their 70s. They are on their way to retirement.
It is not always true that you need money to make money. In real estate, you can start without much (or even any) money. Creative financing is a thing and many people succeeded in real estate starting with 0$. Those people are not architects (usually), just people who understand real estate and how money works. I'd like to meet an architect that really knows about real estate, but I guess that they're really rare to find.
You can't do anything with $0. You will need to borrow money from somewhere. Guess what the banks look at when you go in for a loan? If they see $0 in the account how much do you think they will lend out? Another way is to use equity. Equity is money too. Either your own or the people around you, friends, family etc. most people don't want to be risking other people's money so they rather not go down that path. Inheritance is another way to start off, that is money too. Some people are fortunate and are able to borrow money from their contacts who trust them. Not everyone has wealthy contacts. For those who are unfortunate (majority of the world) need to work hard, save up until they are ready to do what they want to do if they want to do their own development and not having to deal with clients.
I meant to say that it's possible to start in real estate investing 0$ of your own money (i.e. using other people's money, "OPM"). Of course that money is needed to build something, of course.
Anyway, let's not get into the subject of how to start in real estate. I just wanted to see if some people knew firms that dealt with architecture and real estate at the same time.
Spathene, I was the only architect in my State that did this. Architects as a whole are too skittish for this kind of risk. Most all companies of this type fall under the category of “Developers”, and there are many all over the country. They are mainly lead by visionaries, not professionals. I would hold up Glimcher Realty Trust in Columbus, Ohio as an example. Just Google “(City) real estate developers” and you will find them there. A more refined example would be Health Care REIT in Toledo, Ohio.
Many opportunities in this arena, all have in-house architectural staff. You have a good nose, follow the money.
As for the other thread, if you don’t mind my taking up your space….the way I got started was I moonlighted projects and would ask to invest my fee into the project. Admittedly a small nibble, but it built up over time. Later after starting out with my own architectural firm I always tried to invest a tiny part of my fee into other people’s projects whenever possible. It’s just like a savings account only with 10-15% returns.
This is an interesting focus for architects and one that seems to have aroused a lot of attention in the last few years. Certainly something I've become interested in pursuing.
I assume you are studying in the US - I don't about the situation in other countries. If you are still a student I'd strongly encourage you to contact some of these firms and see if they can give you some pointers on getting involved in the field, maybe as an intern. Also look into professional associations such as the Urban Land Institute that connect planners, architects and developers and they can be a good source of information too.
In addition to what Carrera listed here are a few I can think of:
Optima - Chicago area / Arizona, led by architect David Hovey. Several large high rise residential projects, some quite nice as designs. He used to teach at IIT a few years back, not sure about now.
Gluck+ New York Firm. Not clear to me to what extent their work is self-developed versus design-build for others, but the design is high-caliber.
Johnathan Segal San Diego Luxury Residential - he's been discussed elsewhere on this site
Magellen Development / James Loewenberg Another Chicago developer led by an architect. Not so focused on design, but a big player in Chicago development. Notable for commissioning Jeannie Gang for the Aqua Tower - the in-house architecture team took care of the less-visible base and core.
As others mention, the question for going your own on this is getting financing. But then, that's the problem for any startup - if you're a student there's plenty to consider before you get to that. Good luck!
John Portman in Atlanta was the classic example of an architect who wised up and started doing it himself. I don't know how he got his grub stake (does anyone else know?). The A.I.A. hated him for it and he told them to go pound sand.
Can’t answer where Portman got his grub-stake but I think I know – he didn’t have one and neither do you. Portman had a successful architectural practice in the 60’s and was lucky to be doing some bigger projects then it was just a matter of someone coming along that needed a building but didn’t want to own it. He did some famous hotels that way with the hotel owner willing to sign a lucrative long term lease….leases from Hyatt are bankable. There may have been more involved but I doubt it. When I was starting out I owned some acreage that I bought on a land contract – nothing down – then not have any resources I just put a sign on it with my phone number and the phone rang almost every day - found that there was no shortage of people with dreams, just money. I just weeded through the calls until one day a guy with a car dealership called with his dream for a new facility. He had been in the business long enough but had all his money tied-up in cars. His monthly floor-plan interest was a ball-breaker and the bank wouldn’t loan him anymore money because he was so stretched….he wanted me to put a design/build package together to make a stronger pitch to the bank. Then I said “to hell with the bank” and put together a package where I would own and he rent - I got paid to design it, got paid to build it then got paid a 16% return on investment (rent) for 10 years with an option for him to buy it then at full appraised value – so I got paid 4 times for just one thing. What grub-stake? My grub-stake was a $300 sign.
You don’t need land to do it just offering development in your services will attract dreamers.
I heard once this contractor put up a sign stating a Mall was to be built soon on an empty lot. Property values went up around his lot. He took the sign down and sold the property making a pretty penny.
CHI-GMP, follow Olaf’s lead and join up with dad…he finds the underutilized land, options it…you use your good talents as an architect to design a knock-out land use upgrade, use it to get all the stakeholders to buy-in, get the zoning changed and flip the property at its new higher value.
Architecture, Construction & Real Estate Firms
Hi!
Do you Archinecters know any large firms that do architecture, construction and real estate? I'm specifically searching for firms that are "their own clients", meaning that they design and build houses/condos (financed by themselves and/or external investors) and then sell, or even better, rent their own units.
That's what I see myself doing in a few (many) years, when I'm out of school, and so, I'm wondering if such companies already exist.
Thank you!
I think many have the same idea. But you need money to make money. If you find a company that does that let me know. I like to know how they start up. Having said that I do know a college who used to work for a company who does that kind of stuff but the Architect partners are in their 70s. They are on their way to retirement.
It is not always true that you need money to make money. In real estate, you can start without much (or even any) money. Creative financing is a thing and many people succeeded in real estate starting with 0$. Those people are not architects (usually), just people who understand real estate and how money works. I'd like to meet an architect that really knows about real estate, but I guess that they're really rare to find.
You can't do anything with $0. You will need to borrow money from somewhere. Guess what the banks look at when you go in for a loan? If they see $0 in the account how much do you think they will lend out? Another way is to use equity. Equity is money too. Either your own or the people around you, friends, family etc. most people don't want to be risking other people's money so they rather not go down that path. Inheritance is another way to start off, that is money too. Some people are fortunate and are able to borrow money from their contacts who trust them. Not everyone has wealthy contacts. For those who are unfortunate (majority of the world) need to work hard, save up until they are ready to do what they want to do if they want to do their own development and not having to deal with clients.
I meant to say that it's possible to start in real estate investing 0$ of your own money (i.e. using other people's money, "OPM"). Of course that money is needed to build something, of course.
Anyway, let's not get into the subject of how to start in real estate. I just wanted to see if some people knew firms that dealt with architecture and real estate at the same time.
Spathene, I was the only architect in my State that did this. Architects as a whole are too skittish for this kind of risk. Most all companies of this type fall under the category of “Developers”, and there are many all over the country. They are mainly lead by visionaries, not professionals. I would hold up Glimcher Realty Trust in Columbus, Ohio as an example. Just Google “(City) real estate developers” and you will find them there. A more refined example would be Health Care REIT in Toledo, Ohio.
Many opportunities in this arena, all have in-house architectural staff. You have a good nose, follow the money.
As for the other thread, if you don’t mind my taking up your space….the way I got started was I moonlighted projects and would ask to invest my fee into the project. Admittedly a small nibble, but it built up over time. Later after starting out with my own architectural firm I always tried to invest a tiny part of my fee into other people’s projects whenever possible. It’s just like a savings account only with 10-15% returns.
@OP
This is an interesting focus for architects and one that seems to have aroused a lot of attention in the last few years. Certainly something I've become interested in pursuing.
I assume you are studying in the US - I don't about the situation in other countries. If you are still a student I'd strongly encourage you to contact some of these firms and see if they can give you some pointers on getting involved in the field, maybe as an intern. Also look into professional associations such as the Urban Land Institute that connect planners, architects and developers and they can be a good source of information too.
In addition to what Carrera listed here are a few I can think of:
Optima - Chicago area / Arizona, led by architect David Hovey. Several large high rise residential projects, some quite nice as designs. He used to teach at IIT a few years back, not sure about now.
Gluck+ New York Firm. Not clear to me to what extent their work is self-developed versus design-build for others, but the design is high-caliber.
Johnathan Segal San Diego Luxury Residential - he's been discussed elsewhere on this site
Magellen Development / James Loewenberg
Another Chicago developer led by an architect. Not so focused on design, but a big player in Chicago development. Notable for commissioning Jeannie Gang for the Aqua Tower - the in-house architecture team took care of the less-visible base and core.
As others mention, the question for going your own on this is getting financing. But then, that's the problem for any startup - if you're a student there's plenty to consider before you get to that. Good luck!
John Portman in Atlanta was the classic example of an architect who wised up and started doing it himself. I don't know how he got his grub stake (does anyone else know?). The A.I.A. hated him for it and he told them to go pound sand.
I can't believe nobody's mentioned the 800 lb. gorilla of design-develop-build firms: The Opus Group
http://www.opus-group.com/
Kevin Cavenaugh published some case study pro formas. Take a look and see what some of his projects are like
http://tenpod.org/guerrilladevelopment/
his website is here:
http://guerrilladev.co/
Can’t answer where Portman got his grub-stake but I think I know – he didn’t have one and neither do you. Portman had a successful architectural practice in the 60’s and was lucky to be doing some bigger projects then it was just a matter of someone coming along that needed a building but didn’t want to own it. He did some famous hotels that way with the hotel owner willing to sign a lucrative long term lease….leases from Hyatt are bankable. There may have been more involved but I doubt it. When I was starting out I owned some acreage that I bought on a land contract – nothing down – then not have any resources I just put a sign on it with my phone number and the phone rang almost every day - found that there was no shortage of people with dreams, just money. I just weeded through the calls until one day a guy with a car dealership called with his dream for a new facility. He had been in the business long enough but had all his money tied-up in cars. His monthly floor-plan interest was a ball-breaker and the bank wouldn’t loan him anymore money because he was so stretched….he wanted me to put a design/build package together to make a stronger pitch to the bank. Then I said “to hell with the bank” and put together a package where I would own and he rent - I got paid to design it, got paid to build it then got paid a 16% return on investment (rent) for 10 years with an option for him to buy it then at full appraised value – so I got paid 4 times for just one thing. What grub-stake? My grub-stake was a $300 sign.
You don’t need land to do it just offering development in your services will attract dreamers.
I offer SHoP Architects http://www.shoparc.com/
I heard once this contractor put up a sign stating a Mall was to be built soon on an empty lot. Property values went up around his lot. He took the sign down and sold the property making a pretty penny.
CHI-GMP, follow Olaf’s lead and join up with dad…he finds the underutilized land, options it…you use your good talents as an architect to design a knock-out land use upgrade, use it to get all the stakeholders to buy-in, get the zoning changed and flip the property at its new higher value.
Hey. Perhaps I can help you.
Here you can find out information about architectural visualization
https://webcase.studio/blog/wh...
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