20-Year Development Drought is Over

Could it be? At Bisnow’s Construction & Development Summit last week, some bold predictions were made about a traffic-free 10. Read on (and stick around for the also exciting topics of land prices and permitting).

Sonnenblick Development chairman Bob Sonnenblick says the day the Expo Line extension opens, the eastbound 10 Freeway, which becomes bumper-to-bumper at 2pm, will be a totally different place. He also says the dissolution of California’s redevelopment agencies probably cost the industry $4B; all the cities had major projects lined up with RDAs, he says.

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He also says the dissolution of California’s redevelopment agencies probably cost the industry $4B; all the cities had major projects lined up with RDAs, he says.

Bob’s a big proponent of design-build because, if well documented, it takes all the construction risk off of the developer’s shoulders. He says development is already hard enough: “If you can take that risk and lay it off on your contractor, it’s got to be the right way to do this thing.” Andy notes Hensel Phelps is budgeting projects it first saw seven to nine years ago, though “they’ve traded who’s actually going to do ’em a couple times.”

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Read the complete followup here.