| Why Don't Real Estate Developers Just Ask Us What We Want?
Real estate developers typically handle this question by not asking it at all. "They built something that they wanted, that they cared about, that they tended to own for a long amount of time. "We can put ourselves in a tough position," Miller acknowledges (and this is why some more traditional developers think these guys are nuts). 1 most popular [idea], but one of the more generally popular. But it's a huge improvement on how things are done now. Hardly anyone literally does this anymore. "Real estate development a long time ago was completed by a family, or a person who generally had some sense of being in the community," says Dan Miller, a developer with WestMill Capital in Washington, D. But in theory, the business that does take root here will reflect the input of the neighborhood. But this isn't a bad result. It's like they've just been waiting to plead for a fitness center, and these are the first folks to come along remotely broaching the topic. What if that business also wanted to gab with the local community on everything from what to put on the menu to how to design its patio to where to find the financing?. "A lot of the suggestions we got were for a gym," Miller says, laughing, because a 4,000-square foot gym would fit maybe five treadmills. Whether or not the concept takes off will depend on what happens next. And this will be a tricky juncture. It wasn't always corporate development. The concept with the most votes will not necessarily take the space. And this is the piece Popularise's creators haven't figured out yet: Is there a way to source not just ideas from within a neighborhood, but financing, too? "That's ultimately the biggest issue," Miller says, hinting at the prospect that Popularise will eventually try to tackle this piece, too. That's a different community in the sense that it's not a location-based community. The true the importance of the concept may take years to prove. Miller says one of the Popularise front-runners - a local bar manager who wants to open his own spot - was even offered a home two blocks declining the street and $150,000 in build-out capital by another developer in the neighborhood, thanks to the display of enthusiasm on the site. And so the vegan farm-to-table karaoke bar never comes to pass, and the people who've been coveting one must continue daydreaming. Why not a certain wine bar?. |
Friday 9 March 2012
Why Don't Real Estate Developers Just Ask Us What We Want?
