Re: RFPs and developers
From: Fred H Olson (fholsoncohousing.org)
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:50:37 -0800 (PST)
Jack Wilbern <jwilbern [at] butzwilbern.com> is the author of the message below.
It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------

Hi Tom:

Just a quick comment on RFPs and development agents and developers.

An RFP is usually used when approaching someone as a development agent. In
other words, hiring someone as a professional consultant to provide
services.  This is very different from approaching a developer as a
partner/collaborator. Developers do not normally respond to RFP's, they
receive them.

That process would be much more akin to wooing, since you are in effect
looking to establish a collaborative effort or possibly even looking to
them for significant money resources such as cash or their ability to
obtain loans.

In either approach (and they are both valid paths to be sure) the same
issues you are itemizing need to be discussed and ultimately written into
an agreement - but in one you are somewhat imperiously asking someone to
submit to you the reasons why you should 'hire' them.  A developer partner
needs to evaluate you as much as you evaluate them. They would more likely
need to know who you are, the type of deal you are looking at and whether
they felt that the project was viable enough to divert time, money and
energy from their other projects.

Not an unsubtle nuance and might help shape your paperwork to suit the
audience and your goals/values.
Have fun - great to hear you have made such great progress !

Jack Wilbern
Cohousing Collaborative LLC


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