Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: RFPs and developers

[dahako (dahako]

Hi-

Funding development is pretty much my business, so I can tell you that based on 
my experience, there is no one right way to form a development group. I have 
seen handshake agreements result in successful multi million dollar agreements 
and I have seen rigorously competed and contract-bound partnerships work too. 
And I have seen both types grind to a halt and fail.

I have come to think that a clear definition of common interests up front along 
with some neutral, professional way of tracking and communicating progress 
(like really good specs and drawings reviewed and tracked by a professional 
owner's rep) are the key ingredients of a development partnership. By all 
means, get the basic legalities in place to lay out basic roles and limit 
liability. But there is no substitute for a common interest in finishing fast 
and well, so establishing enough of a relationship to determine interests and 
communicate progress matters at least as much as the legal niceties.

A side bonus to a shared interest basis is that it tends to weather setbacks 
better than a purely legal contract basis.

The reason to compete is to establish that you got the best value for your 
money. There are other ways to do cost analysis for a construction job- 
examining qualifications of your partner (do they bring jobs in on time and in 
budget? Are former partners and contractos happy with them? Do previous jobs 
still look good and function well); running a basic cost spec or value 
engineering your project; and asking for a second opinion on costs from your 
owners rep.

Work the path that works for you.

My two cents. 

Jessie Handforth Kome
Eastern Village Cohousing
Silver Spring, MD
This post is my opinion and in no way represents the views of my employer.
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