Financing Developments that Create Great Places with Ward Davis – Ep. 33 - a podcast by Matthew Loos, P.E.

placemakingpodcast@gmail.comFacebook-fTwitterLinkedinInstagramFinancing Developments that Create Great Places with Ward Davis – Ep. 033
About the GuestI am really excited to share this next conversation with all of you. Ward Davis is a founding partner of High Street Real Estate&Development, a real estate company focused on urban and New Urban properties in vibrant, growing cities and towns. Ward recently served as President of the National Town Builders Association, a national trade organization for leading developers of economically, socially and environmentally sustainable neighborhoods and town centers.  Ward has a BA in Economics from Davidson College, a General Course Diploma in Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MBA from The University of Virginia.
Ward, along with his partner, Morgan Hooker, first began toying with the idea of joining forces to form High Street back in 2004. Since then, they have built their portfolio to include a multitude of high-quality developments. High Street Real Estate&Development was born out of a need to build great new places and to redevelop properties in Northwest Arkansas’s downtowns.  Their residential and commercial projects are influenced by philosophies that improve livability, adding lasting value to our neighborhoods and communities. They continually strive to make better places for communities, tenants, neighbors and local businesses as a whole. From renovations to adaptive reuse to from-the-ground-up neighborhood building, their end goals are always the same. These are improving livability, reducing operating costs and delivering unrealized value.
In this episode, we are going to discuss the financial model for place oriented development and how that differs from conventional development, alignment of interest with investors, and what types of investors might be interested in placemaking and why. There is tons of great information in this episode and I greatly appreciated Ward’s candor in discussing these topics and how they relate to their company’s business model.Main Take-Away’s From This ShowThis was an extremely fun show for me to host! I really enjoyed the candid discussion that was had when discussing the various business models utilized commonly by real estate development groups. Ward was able to intertwine his beliefs of creating great and memorable places with a strong financial foundation. These ideas combined to form the backbone of the real estate company that he is the co-founder of. The following main topics of the show come from a deep understanding in the role of strong town centers and the inherent value there is in understanding financial models behind successful real estate development endeavors.


Location, location, location…This notion is important for developers seeking guaranteed appreciation.In this time of turmoil, investors seem to be looking for consistent returns. Not necessarily the highest initial returns.


Timeless architecture can truly be timeless when done correctly.As always, I will dig into each of these “take-away’s” every week on the blog. So, without further a due, here we go!Location, location, location…This notion is important for developers seeking guaranteed appreciation.
The phrase “Location, Location, Location” has been utilized in real estate round tables for years. This saying shouldn’t be new to you or I, however the importance of this idiom cannot be understated. Especially for a real estate development model that counts on appreciation over time.As discussed in this episode, the majority of the projects that High Street takes on begin with the understanding that they will be invested in the project for the long haul. This is very different from the majority of real estate developers and companies who ...

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