Recently we’ve become involved with the turnaround of another distressed apartment project.
This will be the fourth distressed development which we’ve been appointed to and the lessons we’ve learned from each one of these projects all have some remarkably similar themes.
- Too many people underestimate the complexity and challenge of delivering a successful development project.
- There’s an old saying in construction and project management that when a project starts badly then it’s probably only going to get worse. Take the time to appoint the right team at the outset and make sure that they have the qualifications and experience relevant to the project at hand.
- Sometime its one big thing that sinks a project, other times its death by a thousand cuts. Either way a really good understanding, at the outset, of what are the likely risks that you’ll face along the way, and how you’ll deal with them, is critical. This is where an experienced development or project manager is worth every cent that you’ll pay them.
- Finally, if things do start to go wrong, then don’t leave it to the last minute to get a second opinion or to call for help. Too often we see people putting their heads in the sand and hoping that things will come right, rather than identifying and addressing the hard issues.
Be careful out there. It’s a challenging market at present. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
