Are We Pivoting? Who Are We and What Do We Do?

Are we pivoting? If so, what are we pivoting from? Most important, who are we and what do we do?

All-City Development takes the lessons from well established architect-developers and puts those experiences into practice. We are not reinventing the wheel here. Everything that we do is based upon proven strategies on successful projects delivered in the market rate for-rent sector of San Diego. I wanted to bring that strategic thinking and level of quality to privately developed market rate for-rent housing in neighborhoods like my own.

Call it a dream, but I always wanted to build where there was room to build and create a city within a city. I wanted to bring the vibrant and walkable community typologies to the neighborhood. Currently, the only projects being built are public-private housing developments. They are extremely important but to me, they are all the same. I wanted to infuse the neighborhood with a different way of thinking. I believe that architecture can inspire the next generation of neighborhood kids like I once was. What is there now, and what is being built, are the same wood framed stucco apartments that they have been building for the last fifty years. The outsides look different, but they are essentially the same at a larger scale. The commercial spaces are left vacant and although things are new and more dense, nothing really changed.

Unfortunately, building market rate housing in the neighborhoods is not feasible. The margins are much too low to develop them with private financing alone, and public private funding takes too long to get going and leaves little room to stretch the architectural limits beyond what exists now. Additionally, getting the public financing for a small company like All-City is not possible. We do not have the track record to qualify for the funding on our own. Getting to the point entails that we must start very small, which does not allow us to get to that scale of project that can make a difference.

I’ve been to neighborhood council meetings, met with real estate advisors and architects, had a conference with the housing commission, and met with many for-profit and non-profit developers. They all said the same thing: getting to make a leap in project scale was going to be extremely difficult. Now that the market has hit a down-turn, those chances are even more dire.

I have made some head-way however, I have found a couple of developers that would be open to discussion but I first need to bring forth an actual project. This means that I needed to secure a parcel of land. So, I set off to do so. I cold called land owners, wrote letters with elaborately colored envelops, communicated with brokers, and reached out to other developers who owned property. Nothing. I received a couple of quick conversations, got cussed out by a property owner, ghosted, and hung up on. I sent a very nicely drawn envelope and proposal to one property owner and a month later, the property was up for sale. Maybe just a coincidence in timing, I don’t know.

Finally, I decided to pull the pin on a property I do own, my own home. There is a regulation that allows a residential parcel to be split in half so four units can be built. To do so, means that I would have to tear down the project that I just completed. I worked really hard on that but to progress, I presume it was necessary to let go and move forward.

I proceeded to perform a design study, created a fairly complex zoning package, and the project is currently with the building department for zoning review and has been there for two months. It has been tough, however, in that time, I’ve read a few books and the beautiful thing that is the YouTube Algorithm has provided me with an idea that may allow us to scale.

The video suggestions was for a start-up accelerator. It was already passed the due date for applications but the instructions said to please apply anyways. Well, I applied and was not admitted to the program. That is fine, because I realize that the program is not important, it was the idea.

The idea is to pivot away from traditional development and use our qualifications to move into housing manufacturing. We are not proposing to just be a factory home builder, we are proposing to create an innovative process that will change how we build. That is the basic idea and as I learn more everyday, the concept is growing and adjusting.

As I continue to move forward, I believe that this is something that can be turned into a seed stage startup company. Because the company and industry is commercial real estate, there are many obstacles that might not attract investors. That is the first level of our innovation, to develop creative financing strategies that can overcome a capital intensive and longer duration investment return window. How can we create a funding structure that can overcome those obstacles? More important, what investor will agree to those conditions?

The more I visualize how things are unfolding, I am beginning to see that these delays have provided an opportunity to look in a new direction; a direction that will allow us to take those leaps and scale faster without being overwhelmed.

With the right capital structure and team we can grow intelligently and create company wings into advanced manufacturing.

I am so thankful because if I was moving at a hundred miles a minute I would not have had the chance to understand what the possibilities were. The architect/developer/contractor business model is a great one, but I was so focused and chained to it. Getting stalled and shaken up a bit has really delivered a new set of concepts that are super exciting. I struggled with the question of how to attract a different type of investor that was more adept to take risks and have a clear voice on how to structure something that works for everyone.

As I was creating my application, which ultimately failed, it was if I was learning while doing. The various doors were coming into view and I was seeing how the structure needed to be navigated. I know that it is right because I can see those connections and the means to execute the necessary work to arrive at a product.

It is HUGE. I understand that. That is one reason why I believe that investors will be interested once we figure out how to manage the funding and create long term return structures that investors need. We want to create that. We want All-City to be the company that can attract and allocate those funds and deliver an abundance of returns for our investment partners. We want to be the company that receives the holiday cards and thank you letters after performing great work. I actually imagined that when I am going through the mental activity of devising who we want to become. We can become that and as every day goes along I believe in it more and more.

Things are moving very slow right now. I am trying to visualize all that I can and purge myself of preconceived notions and attempt to see things in a new way. I have not even started to sketch or write down notes.

It is huge. It’s so huge I wrote it twice. This endeavor is so big that I can only imagine what Elon must have felt when he set off on the journey to create Space X. He did it with a large amount of capital secured. I am standing at that same place with not so much. With the right backing we can get it done. We can build upon other housing start-ups and make things even better.

Here I am at a fork in the road. A fork in life’s road does not always mean a departure from past endeavors. What I have found is that the development path that I am on is in close parallel to where I believe we can take it. The most interesting aspect is that these closely parallel roads connect at some points which allows smooth forward movements.

Another aspect is even though these paths are well defined a new trail does need to be blazed. That new path will exist in between the two that already exist. Doing this will create a company that can do a variety of things in the housing space. We can focus on the blooming micro-unit space, for-rent apartments, and move into more public work. The possibilities are filled with challenges, but the possibilities are indeed, well, possible.