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What’s important and why.

A successful development project results from thoughtful responses to countless contextual factors. Here’s a few of the most common and how we approach them:

 

  • Cost Effective approach
    • We hear you! You want an experienced design partner you can trust to help coordinate your investment, and one who can do it affordably. Through an upfront conversation, we tailor our proposals to be focused, competitive and aligned with project goals. Bottom line, good design is more accessible than you think…
  • Zoning Analysis & Feasibility
    • Over twenty years, we’ve completed countless development studies addressing: land usage rights, density studies, height/coverage allowances, unit count analysis, bonuses, zoning & code variances and more. Our thorough knowledge in this area provides fast responses so you can plan your project effectively, with minimal upfront financial investment.
  • Regulations & Approvals
    • Zoning, Historic, Streets, Utilities, Civic and Neighborhood groups, all have an influence in the project’s outcome before final approval. Through an empathetic ‘early-and-often’ approach, we’ve successfully secured preferential outcomes that are more easily reached, in less time.
  • Profitability & Practicality
    • Investors seek a good return on investment. Good design creates market desire, which means faster lease-up/sell-out and higher sales prices. Designing practically, with details that are easy to execute and plans that maximize efficiency, means good design can increase your bottom line.
  • Risk Management
    • Our origin as a design-build development company means we’ve spent years on your side of the table, writing proformas and physically executing construction. Because of this, our process directly engages subcontractors very early in design to flush out intent, constructability and cost; so the whole construction team knows what to expect and how to execute it. When design ambition is properly aligned with construction costs and capability from the onset, there are less mistakes and delays in the field.

Large scale development demands highly complex analysis and solutions, provided with the same speed and agility of smaller projects.

At a premier urban location, this 6 story core & shell spec project is carefully sited, serving as a backdrop to an existing historic office building. The building core and service spaces were cleverly arranged to yield maximum flexibility in serving a single or multiple future tenants.

This 5 over 1 podium build in the Old City District required speed of delivery, so sometimes it’s just about creating a good, efficient floor plan that maximizes unit density, repeating it on each floor, and creating an elegant, cost-effective, durable facade that satisfies the basic needs of a community.

Through Moto’s knowledge of parking regulations, we spearheaded a strategy for off-site parking which freed up valuable space on-site for additional units at the ground floor to maximize unit density.

When the budget for a facade is not extravagant, it’s really important to make it easily buildable. Subtle things like selection of mortar color, setting brick depths, orientation and pattern add no cost to a project. They can be achieved by any masonry team, and yet they yield high aesthetic impact leading to faster lease up.

5 over 2 podium construction provides maximum construction economy and building height in Philadelphia’s high-cost construction market; while limiting the building height to just under 75′, avoids high-rise code classification which would otherwise add significant additional costs to a project.

For this by-right 7 unit, 7 story building in a Historic District, this technique was used on a narrow infill lot. The historic red brick and slate base matches window and cornice lines of the neighboring historic buildings while the upper floors appear as a contemporary addition. This attention to historic contextual detail built strong market desire, leading to a projected $10m sell out.

On large MFD projects, efficient design, material cost control and construction oversite are primary considerations.

At Wayne Ave, multiple early blocking studies were performed to determine the right unit sizes, mix and placement to make an efficient, diverse layout that met market demand of the community.

Cost effective metal siding creates elegant corners and accents whose colors compliment the Victorian character of the neighborhood, while balancing out costs for higher priced masonry along the street-face.

Our history in construction administration, across a range of residential and commercial projects, allows for careful oversite of the construction process, foreseeing potential field issues before they occur and protecting the interests of the client & project investors.

See the full project here!

Adaptive-Reuse is an important and cost-effective way to approach existing building stock.

Juniper Apartments converted a former automotive garage into a mixed-use building w/18 apartments and 1 commercial space via green roof density bonus. The economical building skin addresses cost with a functional industrial aesthetic. The lot coverage of the existing structure provided opportunities to maximize ground floor commercial use, while creating private outdoor space for 2nd floor rear units. A common roof deck provides 360 views of the city skyline.

Infill lots seem easy, but with increasingly difficult permitting regulations, they are becoming one of the most financially challenging typologies to successfully develop.

Workforce Housing is an example of our deep knowledge in navigating the regulatory process and managing all the unique conditions these sites contain. No two are alike.

We aid in bringing to market over 150 homes a year, and routinely encounter the challenges of underpinning, shoring, encroachments, neighbor notifications, poor soils, incorrect deed descriptions, subdivisions, PUDs and more. We’ve seen it all.

Workforce

Early Zoning analysis is critical to understanding options for building massing, density, uses and bonuses. From these studies, a developer can construct initial proformas, set schedules and secure financing.

At Bloc24, clever by-right interpretations of the zoning and streets codes allowed for substantial height and density bonuses to create a mixed-use, 5 story podium construction project with below grade parking and large interior courtyard. 8 boutique apartments range in size from 460sf to 2,600sf full floor units. The flat masonry facade provides a simple backdrop that compliments the gently curving brick facade plane.

Bloc24