What Tends to Fall Through the Cracks During Development?

[Mari Puga]

I am evaluating a couple of potential development opportunities, and one thing that has become clear is the importance of building the right team from the beginning.

I'd be interested to hear from experienced developers and owners: what tends to fall through the cracks during development and construction that owners don't discover until it's too late?

Areas I'm thinking about include:

• Capital raising and investor relations
• Loan readiness and lender requirements
• Permitting and utility coordination
• Contractor vetting and oversight
• Project monitoring and schedule management
• Municipal approvals and inspections

Coming from a lending and risk management background, I can see strengths in capital raising and loan readiness. What concerns me more are the permits, utilities, contractor oversight, and dealing with municipalities, since those seem to have a significant impact on timelines and project execution.

For those who have been through the process, where have you seen the biggest surprises, delays, or costly mistakes occur?

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Mari Puga:

@Henry Clark Really appreciate the detailed response. The engineering side stood out the most for me. Things like soil conditions, utility access, and road access keep coming up in most conversations. Also, the point about the unfair competitive advantage. It is easy to focus on whether a project can be financed, but we lose sight of why the project will actually succeed until it is too late.  Thanks again for sharing your perspective. A lot to consider. 

financing is way down the line if its a true farmer field your going to develop can take years to get it all approved and many hundreds of thousands of dollars before a lender will even look at it.