For Love of Money: And Not Much Else

Stating the obvious, we all know the driver for most people in the real estate business is making money, lots of it. Nothing wrong with that. And there have always been some developers, who push the envelope. They would gain FAR or other benefits to increase project size and then build uninviting concrete parks, back alley canyons or worse to meet the letter of the law. They make money, but maybe at the expense of lasting contributions or good citizenship.

And there have always been examples of developers with secondary motivations — place making, improving their community. They’d actually invest in public art, provide space for the performing arts or create attractive public spaces in bids to leave a mark, while not so coincidentally improving the long-term value of their projects. They were typically locally based, owner-developers, who made a business of managing their properties.