ULI Spring Meeting in Vancouver, April 2014

New Communities—the latest and greatest

DMB developing Eastmark—3200 acres in se valley of Phoenix, site of old GM proving grounds, beside Phoenix/Mesa airport which serves 3000 passengers/day, entitled for 15,000 residential units, 6,000 hotel rooms and 20 million square feet of commercial. Home to Apple’s Sapphire manufacturing facility and a branch of ASU campus. Will develop as a city over 20-25 yr. period—largest challenge is how to phase development over this time frame and who are the users for 20 million square feet?

DMB also developing Verado—8800 acres, have sold 2500 homes, entitled for additional 11,500 homes. Separate section—Victory—is active adult community with multiple builders—(unusual)—“nobody want age isolation”.

Lesson learned from downturn—phasing golf course—built 5 holes, will add 4, then 9 over 2 year period—prospects still have amenity to see and play. Not buying land today, lots they still control.

When asked how to control out of line sales associates—developer is using a “choke collar”!!!

Newland—largest private developer of planned communities—owned 25% by largest home builder in Japan. Are in 22 markets, 14 states.

Tool Box for customer intelligence and engagement—database of 30,000—customer database(CRM)—get into how people want to live using customer segmentation, product testing, targeted emails, online and search optimization.

Newland is working with their builders closely to develop new product—that which their prospects want and Newland is paying for the architectural drawings. Eliminating builders that don’t buy into their program. Looking at amenities differently and re-engineering the sales and marketing process—no longer building welcome centers, but fully functional structures that are experiential, lifestyle based. Uses might be as a café where the coffee provider is a licensed sales agent. Might sell alcohol and food as well. Introduced electronic swipe cards so prospects can visit the models at their leisure.

Johnson Development Group—Doug Goff—major Texas developer-primarily Houston.

Developing Lake Arrowhead in Cherokee County outside of Atlanta—been there for a long time—lesson learned—“don’t fall in love with the land”. Johnson is being aggressive in acquiring new properties, even looking outside of Texas.

Take a look at Newland’s website and interesting to read about Oread Capital—mentioned quite a bit at this session. www.oreadcapital.com