Background

Youve no clue where to start. Youve no time youre better off spending time on your core business. You want help translating your idea into reality. You only care whether the finished product works, comes on budget and makes money everything in between youre not interested. 5. You believe the best results come from integrating physical design, market opportunities and project economics. 6. You want to maximize development value. 7. You want to establish a realistic development budget. 8. You want a tightly managed development budget. 9. You want someone managing day-to-day aspects of the development process. 10. You want to manage consultants expectations. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Starting Point
To be honest, if youre not in the business theres not much you can say! Youd be better off listening to what the development advisor tells you first. You can always feedback later after all youre the client! But heres how you might start : Mr Development Advisor, Ive got this piece of land. Can you tell me how best to develop it?

Fact Finding
If the Development Manager has any clue this is how he would proceed:

Understand the site in terms of its immediate surrounding and relationship to key areas within, say, a half hour drive away. Get hold of site plan and site surveys. If none available, he should suggest to get one done right away (and in soft copy too!) Check with the planning authorities on: zoning, development density, setbacks and any other guidelines for your site. Have at look at economics of the immediate surrounding: The types of businesses? What are the capital values and rentals? Are there any gaps in the market to be filled? Check out the construction cost: from industry publications or meet directly with the local quantity surveyor.

Synthesis
After the fact finding the development manager now starts to synthesize the information:

Provides you a preliminary block plan this will show maximum developable Gross Floor Area (GFA), Net Rentable Floor Areas, and information on the sizing of these areas based on the preliminary market investigation. Come up with an associated development budget based on the block plan showing construction cost, consultant fees and other project expenses. Plug the figures into a financial feasibility model and interpret the output measures for you. Hes should be able to tell you the gross development valuation, development cost, internal rate of return (IRR), project net cash flows. and also helps you identify potential development risks such as cost inflation, market timing, delays, among others.

The Pre-Concept Stage

This initial information gives you an appreciation of the project size, development budget and financial performance. You can take this document to your equity and funding partners for further discussion and direction. The process outlined here is essentially the Pre-Concept Stage within the real estate cycle. Please note the work done at the pre-concept stage is for you to decide whether or not to proceed to the next level.

1. Investment Intention 2. Pre-concept: Integrating Physical Planning, Project Economics & Market Forces 3. Design : Concept & Detailed Design 4. Tender 5. Construction 6. Operations: Property Marketing, Tenancy & Facilities Management 7. Demolition/Refurbishing As most investors are aware, the investment intention phase is an on-going process of scouting for potential real estate development projects. Investors / shareholders / directors leap into action when (a) timing is right (economically / politically / socially), (b) funds are available and (c) the right investment opportunity presents itself.

Development Managers Influence on Success

When these three factors are aligned we enter the Pre-concept stage. This is where the foundation of the real estate investment starts being built by analyzing the physical planning possibilities together with the project economics to re-confirm what the market is saying. This is the part where a development manager has the greatest discretion to exercise in determining how successful a project will be. If you decide to proceed to Concept Design you will have to obtain the services of project consultants:

Architect Civil Engineer Mechanical & Electrical Engineer Cost Consultant (Quantity Surveyor)

Concept Design
At the Pre-concept level we were working with massing or block plans showing the scale of the building. In the concept design stage the consultants will add more detail area schedules, gross floor areas, net floor areas, pedestrian and vehicular access and circulation, service areas, site plans, floor plans, building sections and facade elevations, and more precise construction costing. Before meeting with prospective consultants your development manager will have to prepare the design brief specifying the scope, intention and schedule. This will give consultant the information to evaluate your project and come back with a fee proposal. Your development manager will then review, shortlist and advise on choosing the appropriate architect, engineer and cost consultants on your behalf. Once work is ongoing your development managers key role will be guiding the consultant team in maintaining the development budget, established in the earlier pre-concept stage, as well as keep the project on schedule.

The design brief is the document to brief your consultants about the intended project. It sets the direction for the architect, interior designer, engineer and cost consultant on how the project planning should proceed. Below is a list to give you an idea of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the design brief.

Some quantitative aspects include:

What the development budget? Whats the allowable built up area, building setbacks, site coverage and height limit under the existing planning guidelines? What are the key spaces/areas/uses within the project? And what are the sizes of these keys areas? Whats the percentage and mix of particular uses. What are the car parking ratios, site access locations? Whats the minimum building efficiency to be achieved? If its a hotel, what are the number of rooms? Or if its an office tower, whats the minimum Net Lettable Area?

Some qualitative aspects can include:

Do you want to create an iconic building or a functional one? Do you want the property to have a visual impact on arrival? Should public spaces feel crowded or spacious? Should the building have an environmentally sensitive design or follow a conventional energy intensive approach?