14
/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / SEPTEMBER 2015
W
hile touring anewly renovatedapartment
tower and senior housing project in May-
fair last month, I ran into the developers.
We quickly engaged in a conversation about their
choice of architects for the $50 million undertak-
ing – a 163-unit upscale apartment complex and
72,000-square-foot, 88-unit assisted living/memory
care facility. Refreshingly candid about their critical
design choices, site challenges, the neighbors’ reac-
tion to increased density, and balancing construction
costs with the need for profit, the conversation soon
shifted to an important but rarely discussed topic –
what developers expect from their architects.
The points Anne Rosen, co-principal of Den-
ver-based Rosemark Development Group, made were
both thoughtful and relevant, catalyzing this column
in Building Dialogue. After interviewing Rosen, I also
turned to David Klebba, vice president of construction
for Houston-basedHines, who offered a large commer-
cial developer perspective. Both were incredibly gener-
ous with their time and insights during a very busy
construction season. I’ve consolidated their thoughts
into a “CliffsNotes” version below in the hopes of un-
covering a few undiscovered gems of wisdom.
Rosen, with more than three decades of real estate
experience, oversees design, entitlements, construction
and marketing of Rosemark’s new projects. Before es-
tablishing her own real estate development company
in 2005, Rosen served as director of real estate for the
redevelopment of the former Lowry Air Force Base,
now Denver’s 1,866-acre, award-winning Lowry com-
munity, with $1.1 billion in development value.
Klebba, who has been with Hines since 2006, over-
saw the recent development of 1601 Wewatta, a
300,000-rentable-square-foot LEED Gold office build-
ing located immediately adjacent to Union Station. He
is now focused on downtown Denver’s most anticipat-
ed project – the 661,000-square-foot, 42-story, trophy of-
fice tower known as 1144 Fifteenth Street, projected to
open in 2018.
“My goal for an architectural team is strong design
with a distinct point of view that will be relevant in
30 or 50 years,” begins Rosen. “A great designer should
put ego aside, listen to all stakeholders, but be able to
advocate strongly for their vision.”
She continues, “An owner looks at the marketplace,
creates a pro forma, then determines what the mar-
ket can afford based on construction costs. While it’s
incumbent on an owner to be clear about their in-
tentions, if an architect feels strongly about a design
element, they must be capable of pushing back, but
also knowwhen to stop pushing. If everybody is happy,
you’ll probably have a mediocre product in the end.
But also remember who is paying the bill, and be will-
ing to listen when they say ‘no.’ That’s when egos need
to be set aside.”
Rosen believes a great design team should have in-
teresting ideas, understand construction methods, be
sensitive to the established budget and, above all, be
organized and responsive. “But, like any organization,
the product is only as good as the individuals working
on it,” she notes.
On Rosen’s current projects, two different design
teams from the same firm have produced completely
different experiences. “Before selecting a design firm,
we look at individual team member’s strengths and
weaknesses, past project experience on the same size/
type of structure as our project, as well as experience
with the appropriate permitting jurisdictions to avoid
steep learning curves,” she adds.
Thoughtful, forward-looking professionals who lis-
ten well, are not defensive, are responsive and work
well with all team members are critical, in her view.
When problems arise, she reports, either the architects
are not good communicators, are too disorganized to
follow through on the submittals and RFI process, or
they produce inadequate construction drawings.
“Communication skills are key. Architects have to
be able to communicate with me, the engineers, land-
scapers, interior designers, subcontractors and the con-
struction guys who all have different communication
styles,” she explains.
“Finding those skill sets is our first job as an own-
er,” Rosen says. “But, when you ask for references, firms
generally give you only their best references, or clients
may avoid sharing anything negative. So, interviewing
each team member and looking closely at their indi-
vidual portfolios and past team relationships is critical.
You’re not interviewing the firm, you’re interviewing
the team.”
Rosen emphasizes that because you’re married to
the team for 12 to 36 months – from the concept stage
through the certificate of occupancy – you’re going
to spend a lot of time together, thus it’s critical that
you get along and can survive the inevitable ups and
downs as a team.
Klebba, who has worked with architects for more
than 16 years in many parts of the country, breaks ar-
chitects down into “design” and “production” architects,
who have a very different and equally important skill
sets. The former tend to focus on the design only, he
says, while the latter are “into the nuts and bolts and
the construction documents.”
“Usually, the nuts-and-bolts architect is the archi-
tect of record,” he shares. “And the design architect is
a subconsultant to them. That provides a check and
balance to our projects that then transfers risk to the
production architect, which ultimately keeps the de-
sign architect in check.”
When asked what he expects from his architect, he
responds, “Well, the owners can fail pretty miserably
themselves. It’s not always the architect’s fault. If the
owner isn’t communicating their program very early
on in the project, the design will not go smoothly. It’s
the developer’s job to restrict the architect to certain
boxes so everyone is on the same page.”
Klebba adds, “It can get frustrating when archi-
tects think they understand budgets, but typically,
architects don’t understand the ramifications to the
underwriting. When the owner brings up the budget
Cynthia
Kemper
Principal,
Marketekture
Colorado Pulse
