COMMUNITY AND RESORT ADVISORY GROUP Builder Solutions Large Land Holdings Master-Planned Communities Resort Developments Second Home Communities Active Adult Communities AUSTIN LOS ANGELES ORLANDO WASHINGTON, D.C.
OVERVIEW For over 45 years, RCLCO (Robert Charles Lesser & Co., LLC) has been the first call for real estate developers, financial institutions, public sector entities, private investors, anchor institutions, and Fortune 500 companies seeking strategic and tactical advice regarding property investment, planning, and development. As the largest independent real estate advisory firm in the nation with experience in international markets we provide end-to-end advisory and implementation solutions at an entity, portfolio, or project level. The Best Minds in Real Estate Year Opened 1967 Office Locations Washington, D.C. Austin, TX Los Angeles, CA Orlando, FL RCLCO has expertise in five major areas: Urban Real Estate, Community and Resort Development, Public Strategies, Institutional Advisory, and Strategic Planning and Litigation Support. Our multidisciplinary team combines real world experience with the analytical underpinnings of the firm s thousands of consulting engagements to develop and implement strategic plans that strengthen our client s position in a market or sector, add value to a property or portfolio, mitigate price erosion, and strengthen a client s position in the case of an acquisition or disposition. Each day, our consultants apply the knowledge gained from our body of work along with the insights stemming from our proprietary research trends analysis, consumer research, project performance metrics, economic projections, etc. to add value to our clients real estate activities at every point in the market cycle. We constantly refine our concepts and methods in order to identify the best means for helping our clients gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Our extensive network of clients, colleagues, professionals, and public officials, in the United States and abroad, provides us with a unique and comprehensive outlook on the industry not to mention unmatched access to the best minds in real estate. Since we opened our door in 1967, RCLCO has been governed by our core values. We believe that excellence, integrity, honesty, respect, exceeding expectations, and quality are great goals that all firms must possess. These goals and values shape the culture and define the character of our firm. They guide how we behave and make decisions. Staff 50+ Advisory Groups Community & Resort Institutional Urban Real Estate Strategic Planning & Litigation Support Public Strategies Affiliations Urban Land Institute Pension Real Estate Association International Economic Development Council National Multifamily Housing Council Society for Colllege and University Planning Core Values Adding Value to Our Clients Achieving Excellence and Innovation Enjoying Our Work Promote Greater Sustainability Mission Our mission is to help our clients make strategic, effective, and enduring decisions about real estate.
COMMUNITY AND RESORT ADVISORY In 1967, Bob Lesser, then an architect and developer, was asked to evaluate the potential uses for the center of the new town of Thousand Oaks, California. He found that the creativity and financial imagination required for the study were extremely stimulating so much so that he founded Robert Charles Lesser & Co., LLC (now RCLCO) to provide research, analysis, and development recommendations. Today, RCLCO provides real estate advisory services for all forms of real estate across a myriad of geographic settings. However, the firm s core expertise and passion continue to be its legacy in community development and understanding of long-term value creation. RCLCO provides market, financial, and strategic advice and guidance to both investors and developers seeking clarity on the depth of opportunity, pricing, and absorption potential for community developments. Both land owners and developers depend on RCLCO for development programming advice for their planning, development, and marketing teams, in order to inform their designs, strategies, and marketing messages. Clients turn to RCLCO for actionable market intelligence in the context of changing demographics, greater governmental scrutiny, demand for environmentally sensitive practices, and hardened financial realities. Over the past four decades RCLCO has developed unique methodologies to understand regional growth patterns and the catalytic events that can change the value and demand trajectory of a planned community. We undertake leading-edge consumer research to pinpoint demand drivers, create segmentation models and amenity packages to address increased buyer demands, conduct financial feasibility analysis to ensure the viability of a project is met, and benchmark the performance of communities to share best practices. No other firm in the nation has the breadth and depth of experience that RCLCO has relative to planned communities; we ve worked on over 2,600 communities in our history. Product Expertise Master-Planned Communities Active Adult Communities Senior Living Communities Second Home Communities Conservation Communities Beach, Mountain, Lake Resorts, Casino, Marina Single, Attached, & Multifamily Housing Land Uses Residential Retail Commercial Institutional Hospitality Marina, Golf, Other Amenities Services Market, Economic, & Financial Analysis Projection Segmentation, Positioning, & Pricing Builder Program Strategies Amenity Program Strategies Metropolitan Growth Trends Analysis MetroLogic TM Consumer Research Fiscal & Economic Impact Analysis Repositioning Strategies Strategic Planning Valuation Services Performance Audit Litigation Support Services Implementation Services
RCLCO METROLOGIC TM More than ever, private investors, developers, and public officials need clear optics on how metropolitan areas are likely to grow and evolve over time as context for critical decisions. Metropolitan area evolution has implications for the viability of the land uses within a master-planned community, including whether or not the property has the potential to become a central place in the region what RCLCO has deemed a Metro Core. MetroLogic TM Analysis Simulation MetroLogic provides a unique framework for thinking about real estate investment and development decisions: Trend Spotting RCLCO MetroLogic Real Estate Economics Developers and investors use this knowledge to guide acquisition and investment decisions, as a property s position relative to a Metro Core has a substantial bearing on future land use, demand, and underlying value. In those instances where assets have already been acquired, the same principles apply, as an asset s value trajectory will be influenced by its position inside, near, or at the periphery of a Metro Core. By understanding how particular Metro Cores are likely to evolve over time, jurisdictions can better plan for that evolution. MetroLogic helps to anticipate where new Metro Cores are needed and/or likely to emerge. Once it s known that a key job center is likely to emerge in a location, the level of services, shopping, support, and residential development to sustain it can be projected. Understanding the spatial influence of Metro Core evolution can help identify where economic development dollars should be focused to gain the most leverage and metro region benefits. Market Analytics RCLCO s MetroLogic provides a much improved framework for making real estate investment and development decisions, relative to conventional market research methods. Metro Cores, the key regional centers of influence, impact real estate investment opportunities. This includes the degree to which a property has the potential to become a central place in the region. RCLCO s MetroLogic technology allows for full compatibility with existing GIS platforms and combines RCLCO s best-inclass consumer research and trendspotting knowledge base with sophisticated market analytics and real estate economics.
LARGE LANDOWNERS RCLCO understands the unique issues faced by large landowners. Typically, large land owners derive value from their land through a combination of activities, including agriculture, silviculture, mining, and tract sales, as well as moving some parcels of land up the value chain from entitlement to development. RCLCO helps prioritize opportunities and strategically position land assets. Moving property up the value chain is typically more complex for large-scale properties. RCLCO also excels in protecting long-term value by working with local and regional governments on long-range planning efforts to be sure that decisions about properties are not being made without the large landowners active participation. We work closely on those issues with our large landowner clients and their legal, planning, and engineering professionals. Large landowners come to RCLCO for the following services: Land portfolio evaluations Land stratification analyses Highest and best use analyses Long-range value appreciation forecasts Portfolio disposition strategies Long-range growth forecasts for government agencies Validation of development plans Company, portfolio, and project strategies Long-term site planning Strategic planning assistance Help with complicated projects Independent perspectives Clients for whom we have provided such services include: Plum Creek International Paper Rayonier Kennecott Land Farm Management s Deseret Ranch MOZAIC ALICO Arizona State Land Trust Selected Project Experience Deseret Ranch, FL (300,000 acres) As an ongoing advisor to Deseret Ranch, RCLCO provides strategies to protect and enhance the land value interests of the institutional landowner with a long-term outlook (50+ years). Our work includes economic and market trends analysis, economic development strategies, and financial modeling. Potlatch Corporation, National (1.65 million acres) RCLCO was engaged by Potlatch Corporation to add a market opportunity and value perspective to their Land Stratification Analysis. We have completed site-specific work on identified high-market-value parcels. Potlatch is beginning to implement the strategy. International Paper, National (300,000 acres) RCLCO was engaged by International Paper to create a disposition strategy for the highest value lands in their disposition portfolio. We applied our valuation methodology to prioritize land assets, helped them understand the market potential and appropriate pricing of each asset, and developed a strategy to dispose of the portfolio to yield the highest possible returns. Superstition Vistas, Phoenix, AZ (175,000 acres) RCLCO was part of an interdisciplinary team organized by the East Valley Partnership to develop long-term growth scenarios for the Phoenix area to 2060. We used our proprietary Metro Cores analysis to determine growth trajectories; identified likely employment and household trends; determined fiscal and economic impact of development; and recommended various scenarios to accommodate growth in a sustainable fashion.
MASTER-PLANNED COMMUNITIES Since our company s founding in 1967, we have been recognized as the leading experts in segmentation and business planning for master-planned communities throughout North America and around the world. We have the ability to address specific project situations as well as our clients overall long-term strategic needs. Our services are customized to address our clients particular needs, supported by unmatched optics on metropolitan growth trends and forwardlooking market analysis, financial analysis, consumer research, and creative problem solving. By utilizing RCLCO s proprietary MetroLogic real estate development forecasting technology, we can put a proposed community development project into the context of broader metropolitan growth trends to understand how a master-planned community can leverage the trends to its advantage or even influence growth in order to play a more prominent role in a region s economy and broaden the mix of profitable land uses. At the project level, RCLCO brings a unique perspective to analyzing the market potential for community development, focusing our analysis on where the market is heading and understanding the opportunities of today as well as those of tomorrow. With over 2,600 community development assignments completed since 1967, most of them for developers, landowners, and investors around the nation, RCLCO is uniquely capable of assessing the market potential for various uses, including for-sale, for-rent, and workforce housing options, as well as commercial land uses such as retail, office, industrial, mixed-use, and hospitality. Finally, RCLCO s national platform exposes the firm to a broad array of master-planned community developments around the country. RCLCO annually benchmarks top-selling master-planned communities to further our base of knowledge in the industry and to maintain our position on the leading edge. Our services include: Metropolitan Growth Trends Analysis MetroLogic Market, Economic, & Financial Analysis Project Segmentation, Positioning, & Pricing Builder Program Strategies Amenity Program Strategies Consumer Research Fiscal & Economic Impact Analysis Repositioning Strategies Selected Project Experience The Woodlands, TX Since its inception in 1974, RCLCO has worked with The Woodlands Corporation to develop a strategy for each phase of its residential, commercial, and retail development, most recently determining the build-out strategy for their Town Center and East Shore projects. Verrado, AZ RCLCO s role in the Verrado development dates back to 1998. The current owner, DMB Associates, solicited RCLCO s consumer research services to determine the desirability and characteristics of a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) concept. In addition, RCLCO prepared financial optimization models for a wide range of sales mix scenarios, and served as a strategy advisor to the DMB at an entity level. Reston, VA RCLCO has worked on Reston since its inception in the late 1960s, conducting market analysis, product segmentation, financial analysis, and consumer research for Reston s various owners and individual developers. Today, our work focuses on urban product in the famous town center. Lakewood Ranch, FL As the largest green-certified community in the U.S., Schroeder-Manatee Ranch (a familyowned entity) hired RCLCO to provide market segmentation analysis and strategies for the next 17,000 residential units, supporting retail and commercial uses, and civic facilities consistent with sustainability themes.
RESORT/SECOND HOME COMMUNITIES Developers and investors in resorts and second home communities seeking strategic and tactical advice have made RCLCO a first call since the company was founded more than 40 years ago. Our seasoned team of developers, capital market specialists, market analysts, and strategic planning experts apply the insights and experience gained over 40 years to the exercise of crafting and helping implement resort and second-home communities. Using dynamic market forecasting models and proprietary financial analysis tools, backed by a strong customer knowledge and consumer research practice, we define the scale, positioning, character, and amenity program for new and existing resort assets and provide our clients with actionable plans to achieve their objectives. Expertise International site selection for optimal resort and second home communities Assessing demand potential for new development and creating strategies for creation of new destination Innovative product formats, including fractional ownership, PRC, condo-hotel ownership, etc. Residential and hospitality relationships, including brand strategies, partnerships, and servicing Modeling and understanding likely financial performance from the redevelopment of existing assets based on real market analysis The economics of amenity creation Detailed market segmentation strategies for large-scale second home communities Identifying and attracting point venture development partners for complex, multi-component resort communities Representative Clients Vail Resorts Revolution Places Canyon Ranch Disney DMB Associates Hines MGM-Mirage Chaffin and Light (Windrose) East West Partners Marriott International Hyatt Global Morgan Stanley Bishop Estate Selected Project Experience Miraval Resorts, National RCLCO has provided strategy advisory services related to Miraval s brand and expansion into new markets for many years. Miraval engages RCLCO to perform market and financial feasibility analysis for the residential components of many of its luxury properties. Talisker Tuhaye, UT RCLCO was retained by Talisker, the owners of Tuhaye, a 600-unit golf resort community ten minutes from Park City, to examine the market potential for luxury homes within the resort community in terms of target market(s), demand/absorption potential, and preference for custom versus production built homes, including product types, configurations, sizes, and pricing. Playa Grande, Panama Applied Development Holdings selected RCLCO to guide their Latin American resort development process from honing in on Panama as an advantageous locale for resort development, to providing development recommendations, to currently screening joint venture partners. Beef Island, British Virgin Islands RCLCO conducted a hospitality and residential market analysis, including a fractional element, along with a significant financial analysis to help determine the financial feasibility, program the overall site, and guide the development process for this noteworthy project. The analysis was designed to help drive the specific mix of uses, as well as to refine the branding strategy, and the operation of the non-branded residential in the marina village component in particular.
ACTIVE ADULT AND SENIORS HOUSING As we enter the age of baby boomer retirement, along with the already significant Eisenhower population, identifying the depth of opportunity for a range of community types and housing products for active adults and seniors is critical. RCLCO understands the changing market dynamics and demographic shifts affecting the demand and opportunity for different types of active adult and seniors housing. In addition, we have a unique perspective on the role these developments play in larger planned communities and the appropriate phasing to maximize land value and market opportunity. RCLCO s Gregg Logan, Managing Director of our Communities Practice Group, is a contributing author to the Urban Land Institute s Developing Successful Active Adult Retirement Communities book. Clients for our services for active adult and seniors communities typically include developers, land owners, investors, and builders. Services Evaluation of the appropriate type of seniors housing (i.e., CCRC, senior rental, etc.), given the size of the market, wealth, competition, etc. Assessment of the appropriate housing types and unit sizes, as well as overall product program mix, phasing of amenities, and estimated demand given the unique market opportunity Selected Project Experience RCLCO has been a consultant to Del Webb, working with them as they developed a strategy for their growth from Arizona to nationwide deployment. This included developing new concepts that helped them broaden their penetration of the AAC market, offering alternatives to their flagship Sun City model. RCLCO played a strategic role as they refined their business model with respect to the type, size, scale and timing of amenities in their communities to optimize their brand vs. capital outlay cycles. RCLCO was a key resource to Marriott Hotels as they developed their strategic plan to enter the senior housing business. RCLCO has been tracking the most successful AAC communities nationally since 1999, annually surveying the top selling communities, such as The Villages in Central Florida, to better understand critical success factors and strategies that work.
ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS Over the last decade RCLCO has been called upon with increasing frequency by universities, hospitals, family trusts, and other public owners of real estate to help them understand and unlock the inherent value of their non-campus property holdings, and to achieve the social, political, and other non-financial goals of the institution. RCLCO understands the unique mission and objectives of institutions of higher learning, and we are also familiar with the organizational structure and decision-making framework that exists for such entities. We have a proven ability to define an overall real estate strategy and analyze and explain specific development, liquidation, and recapitalization opportunities to an institution s administration, its stakeholders, and its financial supporters. RCLCO has also developed a significant expertise in understanding the economics of college and university towns and neighborhoods, and has proprietary in-house knowledge regarding: Student retailing and spending patterns and strategies to create college-edge retail neighborhoods. Faculty and staff housing preferences, and incentive strategies for encouraging private housing reinvestment in local communities. A process and methodology for city and institution to work together on a jointly commissioned and binding redevelopment strategy. Services Real Estate Portfolio Analysis Market Feasibility Analysis (Residential and Commercial) Highest and Best Use/Valuation Analysis Economic Development/Public Investment Strategies Fiscal and Economic Impact Analyses Retail District Revitalization Strategies Strategy Planning for Real Estate Departments and Companies Development Partnerships Selected Project Experience Florida Hospital In early 2006, RCLCO conducted a market assessment and confirmed a strong opportunity for Florida Hospital to develop an urban mixeduse village incorporating residential, retail, office and hotel uses. RCLCO also drafted a preliminary program, and recommended that Florida Hospital undertake the development in partnership with a third party development firm in light of the considerable expertise required for such development. University of Minnesota, MN Since early 2008, RCLCO has worked closely with the University to understand the nature and scale of the real estate financial opportunities at UMore Park, a large-scale New Town on a former university site. RCLCO explored the time frame over which such opportunities might present themselves, and the financial returns that could be realized as a result of those opportunities. Kamehameha Schools, HI RCLCO has been an advisor to Kamehameha Schools (the Bishop Estate) on strategic portfolio issues as well as project-specific opportunities. RCLCO has provided market and financial feasibility analysis, transaction/ joint development advisory services, and consumer research for various large-scale parcels in Kamehameha s portfolio. Emory Village, GA RCLCO was retained by Peter Drey + Company to work together with a team of consultants to develop a Revitalization Plan for Emory Village under the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI).
BUILDER SOLUTIONS It s only fitting that RCLCO s unsurpassed experience and knowledge of residential communities extends to knowledge of the housing products within those communities. We benefit from seeing thousands of different housing types across the nation and the builders and developers that deliver them, allowing us to keep a pulse on the most current homebuilding trends and the most effective strategies for attracting each unique buyer segment. RCLCO has also developed significant in-house knowledge on effective housing products and segmentation to meet the needs of specific locations and communities. Our builder services solutions include: Tailored approach to help developers with selection of their builder program. Detailed plan/product analysis for both builders and developers to determine the best floor plans to match the targeted market audiences. Repositioning strategies to help builders and developers reconfigure and reprogram land plans to better respond to today s market dynamics. Analysis of appropriate products and orientation within the land plan. Selected Project Experience Lake Nona Property Holdings, FL Evaluation of builder program and housing segmentation analysis for Southlake Village, a dense residential community surrounding an emerging employment core. Lakewood Ranch, FL Analysis of community segmentation and product phasing for the next 17,000 residential units. Shea Homes, AZ Market assessment for the opportunity to introduce additional small-lot product into an existing master-planned community. Carma Developers, TX Market analysis of entry level and value product within an existing master-planned community. The Woodlands Development Company, TX Gap analysis of existing TND and town center product offering to identify underserved market niches within the community.
OUR KNOWLEDGE Metropolitan Growth Trends Consumer Research Housing Trends Master Planned Communities Transit-Oriented Development Strategy Planning for Real Estate Companies
LEADERSHIP Gregg Logan Managing Director Director of Community and Resort Advisory Group Adam Ducker Managing Director Gregg Logan is a Managing Director of RCLCO with over 25 years real estate development and consulting experience. Gregg is the national leader of RCLCO s Communities Practice Group, which consults with land owners, developers, investors, regional planning entities, cities, counties, and others on strategic planning, economic development, market and financial feasibility, and large scale regional visioning. Gregg has conducted and supervised consulting assignments throughout the United States and abroad. Gregg is a member of the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute (ULI) and has chaired several ULI district and product councils. He is a contributing author of several ULI books, including Transforming Suburban Business Districts, Housing for Niche Markets, and Developing Active Adult Retirement Communities, and he participated as a market specialist to help create ULI s Ten Principles for Developing Successful Town Centers. He has served as a member or chair for several ULI Advisory Services Panels. Gregg has published articles and/or been quoted as an industry expert in The New York Times, San Francisco Examiner, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Real Estate Today, Urban Land, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle, and Builder, with regard to a variety of economic development, land use, and real estate related issues. Gregg is a graduate of UCLA. He teaches The Economics of Urbanism at Rollins College Hamilton Holt School in Winter Park, Florida, in the Masters of Civic Urbanism program. Adam Ducker is a Managing Director of RCLCO with over 17 years experience. His areas of specialization include resort and second home community development; and golf course community and mountain resort positioning and amenities. Adam has led teams evaluating innovative resort development efforts across the United State and on nearly every continent. He has particular depth of expertise in forecasting housing and hospitality demand in emerging locations, in understanding the unique set of circumstances that create vibrant resort villages, club membership and amenity ownership format strategies, and in the financing mechanisms that help facilitate development. He also has a specialized expertise in understanding the interrelation and unique marketing, and operating synergies of residential, hospitality, and retail/attraction environment, in both urban and resort locations. He is a recognized international expert of branding strategies and marketing of high-end resort real estate. A native of the New York metropolitan area, Adam graduated from Columbia University with Bachelor s and Master s degrees. Adam is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Society of College and University Planners (SCUP). He is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from place-making to urban redevelopment to retail trends to in-town housing. His writing has been widely published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Urban Land, California Real Estate Journal, Multifamily Executive, Resort and Recreation, and National Hotel Executive.
LEADERSHIP Todd LaRue Managing Director Todd joined RCLCO in 2004 and leads our Austin, Texas office. Todd manages and directs engagements for developers, land owners, investors, and public sector entities seeking strategic development, investment, and/ or planning advice regarding their real estate. His work is focused on providing strategic guidance for masterplanned communities, high-rise mixed-use developments, resorts, and other complex, multi-use, large-scale land use challenges. For these engagements, he conducts highest and best use analyses, market opportunity analyses, consumer research, economic development assessments, financial analyses, fiscal impact analyses, metropolitan growth trends analyses, and various other analytical tasks to help guide clients planning decisions and development strategies. Prior to joining RCLCO, Todd s professional career includes over seven years of experience in construction management with Skanska in Atlanta, GA and W. H. Bass, Inc. in Norcross, GA. Much of his work was concentrated on managing ground-up construction projects in retail, banking, education, and telecommunication as well as interior build-outs of high-rise office buildings. He received his Master of Business Administration (finance and real estate) from Emory University and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, serving on ULI Austin s Advisory Board and the Community Development Council (CDC-Silver), and has been a guest speaker/lecturer/panelist at numerous real estate industry events and universities.
CONTACT US Contact: GREGG LOGAN 964 Lake Baldwin Lane Suite 100 Orlando, FL 32814 (407) 515-4999 glogan@rclco.com Offices: AUSTIN TODD LARUE 221 W 6th Street Suite 2030 Austin, TX 78701 (512) 215-3157 LOS ANGELES TAYLOR MAMMEN 11601 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 1650 Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310) 914-1800 ORLANDO GREGG LOGAN 964 Lake Baldwin Lane Suite 100 Orlando, FL 32814 (407) 515-4999 WASHINGTON, D.C. ADAM DUCKER 7200 Wisconsin Avenue Suite 1110 Bethesda, MD 20814 (240) 644-1300
WASHINGTON, D.C. 7200 Wisconsin Avenue Suite 1110 Bethesda, MD 20814 Phone (240) 644-1300 Fax (240) 644-1311 AUSTIN 221 W 6th Street Suite 2030 Austin, TX 78701 Phone (512) 215-3156 Fax (512) 549-8833 LOS ANGELES 11601 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 1650 Los Angeles, CA 90025 Phone (310) 914-1800 Fax (310) 914-1810 ORLANDO 964 Lake Baldwin Lane Suite 100 Orlando, FL 32814 Phone (407) 515-4999 Fax (407) 515-6599