Last week I read an article in the Arizona Business Gazette about the pending real estate recovery.  According to the article, a group of commercial real-estate experts who spoke at the Urban Land Institute’s 2011 Real Estate Summit in downtown Phoenix indicated that “only the youngest, hippest, best-funded and most attractive retail and office buildings will enjoy the full effects of economic recovery in the foreseeable future”.

I tend to agree with this thinking but I think it applies to more than just retail and office buildings.  The need for shelter is one of the basic necessities of life and creating well designed, hip and attractive housing can improve a person’s daily life whether they realize it or not.  I’m not talking about granite counter tops and stainless appliances here.  Well designed space does not have to cost more.  I’m talking about how a project relates to a pedestrian at street level so that someone might be encouraged to sit at the sidewalk café and enjoy a cup of coffee while watching the street life pass by.  I’m talking about providing a living space with an abundance of natural light which has been shown to improve individual health and performance such as reducing fatigue and improving sleep.  I’m talking about something as simple as designing a floor plan that takes into consideration where someone’s furnishings will work so there is a place for the sofa and television once the building is completed (You would be amazed at how many projects I have been in that ignore this simple but necessary requirement).

I believe that it is these aspects of design that can lead to a more successful project.  And why wouldn’t they?  How many housing projects do you drive by in your week that are just the same bland, repetitive copies of each other that offer nothing beyond a place for a person to sleep at night?  Recent college graduates that are just starting to get jobs as the economy starts its recovery and are looking to move out of their parent’s basement make up a large portion of the current target housing market (especially for rental housing).  They are sophisticated enough to want a distinctive and hip place to call their first home.  It only makes sense to appeal to this demographic.

For the foreseeable future, it appears that the housing market will continue to be in flux.  So, why not improve your chances of success in a difficult market by creating well designed and attractive places to live that the market will be drawn to.  That’s what we plan to do.