UrbanCore Development
UrbanCore Development, LLC has been a leading real estate development & consulting company in the Bay Area for the last thirty years. Founded by Michael E. Johnson, UrbanCore has focused on creating, enhancing, and improving communities through several selected projects that address the core values of aesthetic appeal, environmental and financial stewardship, and social responsibility. With Michael E. Johnson, President & CEO, and a team of experienced project, construction, and asset managers, the firm has been the driving force behind the development of mixed income, mixed-use, and affordable housing projects – from the initial conceptual planning through the design and construction phases. UrbanCore also prepares the financial structure of each deal and identifies and packages the equity, construction financing, and long-term debt. Additionally, the Company manages the marketing phase through sell-out and lease-up on each project. The company also has a long track record of consulting with non-profits in the development of affordable and mixed-income housing projects and has considerable experience identifying and sourcing funding for housing projects, including completing the feasibility analyses of potential projects.
With a concentration on urban-infill, public-private development projects, UrbanCore regularly interfaces with various community groups and local government officials. UrbanCore emphasizes partnerships between the public, private, and community sectors, and is known for successfully bring these groups together to complete projects. The result of these public-private relationships is that UrbanCore can enhance the feasibility of the private investment in its transactions by leveraging the public investment contributions in each project. Over the past 30 years while based in the Bay Area, Mr. Johnson’s total success is defined by the completion, or current progress, of a total of 32 projects, including approximately 3,300 housing units and over 100,000 square feet at a cost of over $1.0 Billion.
UrbanCore has also worked as a member of numerous joint venture teams or on a project management basis; in many cases, with organizations that serve as the long-term owner of the completed properties. More recently, UrbanCore has completed several development projects as the lead developer and managing partner and has several projects currently underway in this capacity.
UrbanCore Development
Approach
UrbanCore Development (“UCD”) has established an approach to urban infill development that includes a focus on public – private partnerships, while emphasizing creative design and construction innovation. The company has operated in an entrepreneurial mode since it began operating in 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia. This has included leveraging the acquisition of publicly owned property from redevelopment agencies, housing authorities and city agencies thru responses to competitive Requests for Proposals/Qualifications (RFP/Q’s), or the submittal of unsolicited proposals to acquire underutilized and surplus properties. In this process, UCD can secure site control of urban infill development sites without the upfront requirement to fund the acquisition of properties by entering into Disposition & Development Agreements (DDA) that result in the deferral of acquisition costs until the projects are ready to close the project financing and start construction. This reduces the front-end pre-construction equity requirements on each project, along with the carrying costs of insurance and maintenance. In many cases UCD can acquire these public sites for below market or reduced costs by attracting the public sector to invest the land into the project to achieve community development goals for the City and neighborhoods.
The next component for UCD beyond strategic public land acquisition is the creative design and construction innovation that the company has focused on. Over the last 20 years the company has focused on establishing standard design layouts of typical unit floor plans, while perfecting the preparation of efficient construction drawing packages working with repeat architecture and engineering teams. As part of this effort, UCD strives to establish on-going construction detailing to maximize constructability and cost efficiency. Additionally, the company has focused on the process of constructing projects with more time and material efficiency, which has resulted in the undertaking of prefabrication of building components off-site and most recently utilizing modular manufacturing of building systems. This includes the off-site construction of modular boxes that are assembled on-site to construct type 3 & 5 buildings. These prefab and modular approaches are proving to save 20-25% in construction duration, reduce site impacts of noise and traffic, and contribute to green-building practices through the reduction in material waste and energy efficiency, all while creating more sustainable building practices that reduce overall construction costs by 10-15%.