The Dark Art of Urban Development

The big picture goals of placemaking and public policy are all well and good, but what happens if you are trying to make a living building under this whole SmartCode/Form-based-code set up? If you still have a building company after weathering the Great Recession, is it the company you would have created from a blank sheet of paper, if you had the chance? Are the buildings you are used to putting up the buildings your buyers and tenants want? John Anderson, a developer and Principal of Anderson|Kim, will cover the basics that can trip up folks used to building in the conventional suburban pattern: * Fronts and backs of buildings and why it’s worth keeping track of the difference. * Where parking and transformers go and how to get the utility companies to agree with you on that location. * Why a single professional woman is not a family of four and why she might not want to settle for the house you build for Mom, Dad, and 2.3 kids. * Building in the middle: what tenants might want in between a ranch house and a 1BR/1Bath in a 400 unit beige apartment complex. * Frequent lunches with banker, brokers, and appraisers.

In 2008, John Anderson and David Kim formed Anderson|Kim to build enjoyable, resilient places in a challenging financial and regulatory environment. Their partnership began at New Urban Builders, a development and building company, where they collaborated in the planning and building design for several mixed-use neighborhoods. Will Dowdy joined the team in 2009. Anderson|Kim practices in Northern California’s Central Valley and with colleagues across the US.