Last week I was sitting in a presentation with an experienced developer for a project we will be starting soon. This same developer is currently building a facility in Columbus, Ohio, with an institutional contractor, which is not going well.
Over and over, he said, “how much of a pleasure it is to be working with a developer’s contractor.” We are one, but sometimes I forget what it means. In this case, the client’s architects and engineers completed the drawings and added all kinds of things that were nice, but didn’t add value to the project or its future residents. With our experience in senior living, we are able to control cost by weeding out what was not required, and we have the technical expertise to communicate effectively with the design professionals with minimal involvement from the client. But there are other things we do, such as keeping up a preconstruction schedule, so the team knows who is doing what and when which helps the team proceed reliably towards a start date. We look at designs to ensure they are in line with what we see works in the marketplace. And we do a design check to ensure minimal change orders and slowdowns occur.
All of this reduces the risk of development while limiting the client’s personal involvement, so he has time to do other projects. If you are working on a new development project, let The Douglas Company demonstrate the advantage of working with a “developer’s contractor.”
Pete Douglas, President
