It all adds up – you are due to have a perfectly balanced birthday! (we couldn’t resist the pun). Best wishes to our Accounting Manager, Amanda Greer, who is SO much more than our financial whiz. She helps keep our business efficient and our clients happy. And she is truly joyful every single day. We’re blessed to work with her!
Thanks to Bisnow for continuing their state-of-the-markets programs during the pandemic. We attend the webinars often and appreciate getting expert insight, especially about all the post-COVID unknowns. The recent national Multifamily update had us feeling optimistic. The general consensus we heard from speakers on the Bisnow National Multifamily Update: Available Capital, Post-Pandemic Design & The Future of Multifamily webinar was optimism. Panelists Mark Stewart, CIO of The Bainbridge Companies, ZOM Living President and CEO Greg West, Waterton CEO David Schwartz, Doug Bibby, President of the National Multifamily Housing Council provided their insights on what’s working now and what the future holds for multifamily. Amenities they anticipate becoming more popular for residents are larger 1 and 2-bedroom spaces and continued inclusion of co-working spaces. They also see more touchless options such as doors, destination-based elevators, and virtual fitness such as Pelotons and workout mirrors so residents can work out without having to catch an Uber or leave and park somewhere. Virtual tours have been highly effective and liberating for the residents by giving them more of a choice in how much engagement they want with the leasing associate. As Mark Stewart said, the American spirit is strong and nobody is giving up. We agree completely!
Sketches are one way the vision for a building is translated from the mind’s eye onto paper or the computer screen. Such early phase visuals are also hugely beneficial for tentative projects to become reality. Did you know the PRISM team can take even the roughest sketches with no other building documentation and turn them into richly detailed renderings? See examples in the video. Developers, architects, and owners call us in as early as the due diligence and conceptual design phases. Working from a hand drawn or rough SketchUp building sketch, we use our architectural training to work through a series of questions so we can fill in the sketch with the necessary building details. Clients are able to use this level of rendering to secure land, solicit investment/project funding, complete a leasing contract, obtain committee approval, or for marketing/PR purposes. Because many on the PRISM team worked at architectural firms previously, we understand that time is money. We are able to produce the early-phase level of renderings very quickly, because the greater details of the design are not yet as important. By outsourcing early renderings to PRISM, our clients are able to divert that time to other projects that are further along. And since we speak architecture, the collaboration between developer or architect and PRISM is efficient. So why spend more time in-house when you have other deadlines and your staff is already at full capacity? We’d love to see your sketches and help turn your vision into reality!
East River developer Midway calls the project “one of the greatest urban redevelopments in a generation.” The site, a former KBR campus in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward, and the scale, 150 acres with one mile of waterfront along Buffalo Bayou, set it apart as the catalyst for invigorating an all but forgotten quadrant of central Houston sitting north of the bayou and east of I-69. Current plans call for build-out in five phases and include 8.9M sf of Class A office, 500K sf of retail, 1,400+ multifamily units, 475+ single-family homes, 390 hotel rooms, and more than 12 acres of green space. PRISM has been working with Midway since 2017 to develop renderings for the many different views of East River. The development’s design focus is on creating a high-quality, walkable mixed-use environment. With such a range of program areas and the strong connection to Buffalo Bayou, East River is poised to become a destination for locals and tourists. The development will also be the new home of the Houston Maritime Education Center and Museum. Page is lead architect, Munoz + Albin is designing the exteriors of the multifamily component and Mayfield and Ragni Studio is designing interiors, and OJB Landscape will provide landscape architecture. The entire site is in a qualified opportunity zone, something Midway hopes will lure companies to East River. No date is set yet for the start of construction.
Situated in the quaint town of Lafayette, Colorado, five miles east of Boulder, The Miller is Greystar’s newest apartment community. It blends the history of its surroundings with contemporary, trendsetting design. The name pays homage to Lafayette founder Mary Miller, an entrepreneurial and pioneering woman who helped form two local banks, a flour mill, and the town’s first school. She subdivided her family ranch and filed the first plat for the land that would become Lafayette, which Miller named after her husband. The Miller has 207 apartment homes ranging from studios to three-bedrooms and amenities such as a fitness center, yoga studio, pool with adjacent indoor/outdoor clubhouse, and two rooftop sky decks. The location may be the biggest amenity; The Miller is in walking distance to many restaurants and breweries, is a short drive to Boulder and Denver, and boasts 20 miles of nearby trails. PRISM produced renderings to help with pre-leasing, which is currently underway. The Miller expects residents to begin moving in at the end of July.
Though we’re not able to get out to meet with clients or attend events, we’re still Zooming away to keep growing our knowledge and making our team stronger. Vistage is one great resource we’ve been using for several years. Earlier this month our team attended a video conference by Sherrin Ingram, CEO of International Center for Strategic Planning. She shared many great tools for fostering internal strategy sessions and successful execution. We especially loved her updated take on the classic SWOT analysis, called PowerSWOT, which will definitely help us make more informed decisions.
Congratulations to our Vice President of Business Development Deborah Gross and her husband on the birth of their beautiful daughter Maxwell Kate! She joins big brother Jack and big sis Charli. Maxwell arrived on May 5th and weighed 6 lbs and 10 oz and 19.25” long. Mom reports that she loves to eat and sleep! Olé!
"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." - Proverbs 22:6 Happy Father’s Day! Since we are thousands of miles apart, I chose to celebrate my dad by reflecting on the values and lessons I’ve learned from him. I’m so blessed with a dad who leads by example. Dad is a creative thinker and problem solver. He was ahead of his time in many ways during his professional career. Many young architects in his firm shared with me that he was their favorite structural engineer to work with because he would encourage them to be creative and think outside the box, unlike other engineers who preferred them to stay within standard shapes and forms. Dad would do whatever he could to provide the structural system to support their design. Customer service was another area dad excelled, even when everything was government-owned in China. Finding the best possible building and engineering solutions for his clients was his top priority. Even if it resulted in more workload for him, striving for the balance between safety and cost for his clients was paramount. To this day, I often think of him whenever I face challenges and try to follow his steps. Dad, thank you for your love and wisdom that has shaped me.
Anyone who has ever renovated a house before (or watched a renovation on HGTV) knows the process can be quite an adventure! Commercial renovation projects come with their own set of challenges AND the potential for big rewards. PRISM works closely with clients undertaking renovations, to help them work through design options and see how the finished project will look in the existing surroundings. This video shows some renovation projects our team has worked on showing the existing space and the 3d rendering that captures the vision for the proposed renovation. During the current economic environment, it may be more viable to undertake a renovation rather than ground-up new construction. Not only is the cost-per-square-foot potentially lower, but a renovation can also result in higher ROI than new builds. Delivery time for renovations also tends to be quicker, with design, permitting, and construction happening much faster. Houston, like many large urban markets, has very limited greenfield sites, and those that are available usually cost a premium. It’s also worth considering the history of the prospective renovation project. Preserving a historic or landmark building keeps the architectural heritage alive for future generations to enjoy.
New luxury high-rise apartments in downtown Houston and in the Med Center/Museum District have been garnering all the headlines recently. While Hines is proudly promoting its sleek new 46-story tower The Preston, currently in construction (and set to be the tallest apartment in Houston), the developer is also working to forge new ground redesigning an industry stereotype. Hines has three new garden-style multifamily properties underway in growing suburbs surrounding Houston. Garden-style apartments have long been a staple of the multi-family industry.