Antonia
@antonia_mdprjct
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RE Developer, doer, design & construction geek, owner @ MADDPROJECT, work from anywhere specialist, RA, NCARB. I build teams that design & build buildings.
NYC/Park City, UT
Joined April 2020
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I’ve hinted at this new thing I’ve been working on and have talked to a few people about it, but I’ve been hesitant to share for reasons that don’t quite matter at the moment.
So that ends now.
I’m starting a development shop in NY.
(As we all know, a key part of starting
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Whenever I hear someone talking about how easy it would be to convert an office building to residential, I think of the first repositioning project I ever worked on.
500K SF of semi-vacant office into 500+ luxury rental apts. 1958 vintage building w/ some asbestos & a complex
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Bigger isn't always better.
When designing spaces, proportion is king.
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Ultimately, the project turned out beautifully. My favorite element was this lobby feature wall by my favorite NY metro area millwork company: Eastern Millwork (photo from their site).
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Quick primer for anyone in tech looking to 'disrupt' anything in the world of real estate or construction:
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Turning this into apts was hard. Almost no two apts were the same b/c of the existing conditions.
The structure at the 5th floor alone was a huge challenge.
The floor looked almost like a submarine, where all the plate girder openings lined up to create a corridor.
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Quick primer for anyone in tech looking to 'disrupt' anything in the world of real estate or construction:
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Whenever I hear someone talking about how easy it would be to convert an office bldg to residential, I think of the first repositioning project I ever worked on.
500K SF of semi-vacant office into 500+ luxury rental apts. 1958 vintage bldg w/ some asbestos & a complex structure.
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Coordinating new plumbing around the plate girders was tough, to say the least.
In the image below, the red is structure & the pink highlight shows plumbing hits.
This was after a few rounds of coordination.
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People often ask me "what is the craziest thing you've ever worked on?"
The answer (until now) has been: turning a plane into a bar.
...and while the project was uniquely challenging on its own, it was the schedule that made it extra wild.
Start date April 12. Target opening
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The building also had some vestiges of another time that we had to work around, like the 'fire tower.'
This was used in the past as a means of emergency egress, required w' the original design b/c of the depth of the floor plate & height of the bldg.
While I am typically not
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There were other unusual conditions that we had to figure out like a basement bank vault, thousands of pounds of wire from the previous use running below two of the floors and a glazed brick façade that needed a lot of love.
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The entire building (30+ floors) transferred via plate girders at the 5th floor to accommodate a triple height space below.
The floor plate also set back every 10 floors, then every 3 floors.
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People will spend $80/SF on a finish material on a custom home & then trim out their AC vents w/ grills that look like this.
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Ppl often try to justify a bathroom or kitchen renovation saying it will add value to their home.
It won’t.
99% of the time, renovating the kitchen or a single bathroom will not increase the value of a house.
If you want to increase value you need to either add area,
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Our main ambition behind building our house is to create a gathering space for friends & family.
This meant we wanted large entertaining areas where we can all get together.
We also wanted to maintain privacy at the bedrooms, both for us & for guests.
This resulted in an
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In professional poker, a pro player will play 15-20% of the hands they're dealt vs. amateurs who will play over 50% of the cards they're dealt.
Not playing a certain game is a much better strategy than playing every game.
This matters extra when you run your own company.
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People will spend $80/SF on a finish material on a custom home & then trim out their AC vents w/ grills that look like this.
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Want a cute walkable community?
You need density.
I’m not talking about the 3-story cute row-house variety.
I’m talking about a mixed variety of housing types ranging from small multi-unit to large MF buildings.
There won’t be a cute yoga studio or a cute coffee shop to
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For the first time in ~5 years, I had a major flight delay, and after spending most of the day at the airport, I didn't make it out.
The scene at the gate was what you'd expect, and as I thought through my options, I reverted to something I used to do as a kid whenever I was
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Delta, I love you and constantly sing your praises, there’s no airline I’d rather fly on!
But this is the second time this year my seat was reassigned a few minutes before boarding to a middle seat (not an upgrade).
Last time I didn’t sweat it, but on a 4.5 hour flight I was
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“Hey, did you get the 2700K or the 3000K lights for the guest rooms?”
Them: yes.
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A question I often get:
“Why do you freely give away sources for the materials you used at the house?”
Material specification is only a tiny sliver of what designing a space entails.
Anyone can source a material, especially now w/ online image search.
Knowing how to
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@realEstateTrent
Try to find sushi.
Or pizza.
My other thoughts are not for social media— not looking to go viral for a bad reason 😂
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From experience working in multi-family projects, we have gathered 7 rules of thumb for non-luxury apartment product that help us work very quickly assess project feasibility:
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Had 3 different ppl send me tweets this week from VCs talking about ‘the construction industry’ & I’m always blown away by how much they get wrong.
(Photo of my current view for algo tax)
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If you’ve managed enough construction projects, you’ll have had a subcontractor ghost you at some point. (I’m dealing w/ it now 🥴)
Texting them the following is a sure way to get them to resurface (or to let you move on):
“Please let me know if you’re coming back to the site
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Contractors everywhere else in the US:
"We're looking at a 'tight' 3-acre urban site, where the building will be built on a single city block. We may need to bill extra for the complex logistics"
Meanwhile in Manhattan...
"Oh yea, we just braced the facade and still had room
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It is only fitting that the most aggressive schedule I've worked on was also on one of the most unusual projects I've ever done.
Start date April 12. Target opening May 15th.
This is a quick story of turning a plane into a bar.
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If you’ve managed enough construction projects, you’ll have had a subcontractor ghost you at some point.
Texting them the following is a sure way to get them to resurface (or to let you move on):
“Please let me know if you’re coming back to the site today; if I don’t hear
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I cannot overstate this:
Having the right interior designer on a project is a game changer, and it's not even close.
I'm known to give IDs a hard time, but every now & then, we are fortunate to work with a stellar team & the way they bring together a project is unmatched.
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Helloooo new followers & happy new year to everyone!
Here’s a bit of a personal intro:
I was born in Colombia and came to the US when I was 9.
I grew up with my mom in Miami where I went to the University of Miami. There, I completed a 5-year professional degree in
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Let's talk about roofs.
Roofs w/ "warts," in particular.
In residential construction, several systems require exhaust or venting.
Guess where those pipes/flues go?
They go up & out through the roof.
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When you’ve planned something for a long time & it works out just right 👌🏼
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Nothing shows you how much crap you own until you’re required to pack it all & move it.
Now I’m hesitant to buy anything ever again.
May not furnish the house after all 🤔
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For me, it was the deep end of the pool from day 1.
This was the first project I did construction administration on.
A 25x100' Manhattan lot w/ a historically-designated façade, party walls on either side, an existing rubble wall foundation & an incredibly discerning owner.
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@mrjoebert
Not just sewage but water and electric, too.
Whenever you develop anything new, usually you need a utility load letter or equivalent from all utilities before you receive a permit.
A conversion is no different.
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The TV doesn’t have to go over the fireplace.
I promise.
And the hearth doesn’t have to be dowdy.
I promise.
🖤
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I’m also sitting next to two people who apparently don’t know armrest etiquette.
Middle seat gets both armrests. Period.
Also— the manspreading occurring here is reaching Vitruvian man proportions.
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Didn’t sleep well last night.
Didn’t feel like it today.
Paid the dues anyway.
Set a zone 2 record.
Showing up anyway on the days when you don’t feel like it are the days that make you.
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1- The industry isn’t complex b/c we don’t use software.
It’s complex because we rely on uniquely human skills that are impossible to replace.
This is why one software solution doesn’t serve everyone who interfaces with it.
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Let's talk about roofs. Roofs w/ "warts," in particular. In residential construction, several systems require exhaust or venting. Guess where those pipes/flues go? They go up & out through the roof.
In many cases, this is inevitable. Aside from the unsightliness of these
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When building or renovating your own house, it's not always reasonable to have counsel review a contract.
Whenever my friends ask me for help ensuring they have good contracts for their home projects, these are the things I tell them to watch out for:
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From experience working in multi-family projects, we have gathered 7 rules of thumb for non-luxury apartment product that help us quickly assess project feasibility for new construction:
1) 12' bays. This magical dimension accommodates frontage for standard living rooms &
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Cheat sheet for anyone entering into construction agreements (yup, this one is not just for RE owners!)
These are the *minimum* terms you should understand before signing a construction contract:
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From working on dozens of branded hotels, here are 12 design standards that boutique hospitality can borrow from their less ‘hip’ cousins.
(Hope you enjoy the "beautiful, magical, art deco" images h/t midjourney)
1 - Full-length mirror. Every room should have a full-length
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Home base.
A peaceful place.
A gathering spot.
For charades, late night card games, friendship bracelets, couch cushion fights & open heart conversations in the kitchen.
The reason we built the place.
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2-It’s not ‘one’ industry.
It’s 5 or 6 depending on how you look at it.
(1)Capital (2)development (3)design consulting (4)construction (5-ish) suppliers (6) jurisdictional requirements/law.
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2-It’s not ‘one’ industry.
It’s 5 or 6 depending on how you look at it.
(1)Capital (2)development (3)design consulting (4)construction (5-ish) suppliers (6) jurisdictional requirements/law.
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WFA setup.
(they don’t call it big sky country for no reason)
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For RE owners:
The advice regarding hiring a GC is always: “get three estimates.”
I always recommend going a step further.
-ask for labor and materials to be broken out.
-call the material suppliers and ask for unit costs.
-call local trades and ask for rates.
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Whenever I'm working on a project outside of NY and I hear ppl complain about tight sites I think about the first project I did construction administration on.
A 25'x100' Manhattan lot w/ a designated façade, party walls on either side & an existing rubble wall foundation.
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Ultimately, the project turned out beautifully. My favorite element was this lobby feature wall by my favorite NY metro area millwork company: Eastern Millwork (photo from their site).
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When building or renovating your own house, it's not always reasonable to have counsel review a contract.
Whenever my friends ask me for help ensuring they have good contracts for their home projects, these are the things I tell them to watch out for:
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“The toe you step on today may be connected to the a*s you have to kiss tomorrow.”
In the last couple of years I’ve crossed paths again w/ a handful of ppl who I saw behave poorly or who were less than kind to me as I was coming up in the industry.
In all instances, I was in a
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@moseskagan
@ScottWamplerRIP
I can’t read it without crying laughing every time. This thing is a gem.
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Our main ambition behind building our house is to create a gathering space for friends & family.
This meant we wanted large entertaining areas where we can all get together.
We also wanted to maintain privacy at the bedrooms, both for us & for guests.
This resulted in
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When we decided to build the house and that I would design and permit the house as the architect of record, I hesitated.
It had been 5 years since I'd left architecture and about 10 since I'd designed a house.
I wasn't sure I could do it.
So, I'm updating yesterday's post to
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Remember when airline travel was so glamorous that people used to dress up to fly?
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1- The industry isn’t complex b/c we don’t use software.
It’s complex because we rely on uniquely human skills that are impossible to replace.
This is why one software solution doesn’t serve everyone who interfaces with it.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but when anyone asks me what makes something ugly within a home, my answer is always:
Impracticality.
On that note, I've never seen a TV look good over a fireplace.
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From working on dozens of branded hotels, here are 12 design standards that boutique hospitality can borrow from their less ‘hip’ cousins.
(Hope you enjoy the "beautiful, magical, art deco" images h/t midjourney)
1 - Full-length mirror. Every room should have a full-length
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90% of managing a project is really just:
• Setting clear expectations
• Maintaining constant communication
• Following up
It's the "boring stuff" that makes all the difference.
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This is still one of my favorite custom-ish details.
We use this every day.
I highly recommend the spice drawer inserts, they’ve been an organizational game-changer 👩🏻🍳
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When building or renovating your own house, it's not always reasonable to have counsel review a contract.
Whenever my friends ask me for help ensuring they have good contracts for their home projects, these are the things I tell them to watch out for:
(This does not apply to
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“Did you center the lights between the soffit or the corridor walls?”
Them: yes.
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Weekly update.
HVAC work is underway.
Rough plumbing is nearly finished.
Electrical begins today.
Glazing is 80% complete.
We are working out some challenges w/ the stair glass, but hopeful to resolve it this week.
Quick video tour of the entry sequence.
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We’ve had a handful of friends visit our house while the plumber has been on site (he works nights/weekends).
Every single one of them has said hello & shaken his hand, one even brought enough ice cream (when we told her Jimmy would be there when she came by.)
It wasn’t until
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Golden hour at the house.
Washing away a rough day.
Count your blessings y’all 🖤
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These are the five things I pay attention to when I walk a job site.
Through a careful lens, these can provide a lot of insight into a GC’s ability and the project’s likelihood for success.
1-Cleanliness
Is there garbage all over the job site?
Is it limited to construction
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Yesterday in my email:
We have a $20M problem two years in the making. Can you fix it in 2 weeks?
Me: uuhh… not really, how about 6 weeks?
Nah, thanks— we’ll reach out to ppl who can.
Narrator: & that’s why they have a $20M problem
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Sitting pretty in the snow 😍
Can't look at her and not think about how it's one of the hardest things I've ever done.
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For RE owners:
The advice regarding hiring a GC is always: “get three estimates.”
I always recommend going a step further to understand what makes up the bids you receive.
-ask for labor and materials to be broken out.
-call the material suppliers and ask for unit costs.
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Since the 1920s, the average size of new single-family homes has more than doubled.
While there are many economic factors that affect affordability, this drastic increase is rarely mentioned in the discussion.
We cannot expect to have twice the house for the same price, and
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Quick DD checklist for things to watch out for when you're looking at land for purchase:
Prohibited uses
Easements
Odd-shaped bounds
Excessive topography
Rocky soil
Non-structural soil
Contaminated soil
Wetlands or conservation reqs
Water right reqs
Special Jurisdictions
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If I ever win the lottery, there will definitely be signs.
h/t Blackbridge Motors
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Cheat sheet for anyone entering into construction agreements (yup, this one is not just for RE owners!)
These are the *minimum* terms you should understand before signing a construction contract:
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When every design decision revolves around the mountains ⛰️
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Some advice that has always served me well:
Nobody owes you anything.
Nobody is obligated to like you or work with you.
Life is not fair a lot of the time.
The quicker you acknowledge those things, & move past them, the quicker you're on your way to living fully.
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The more projects I work on, the more I believe that luxury is not necessarily related to cost.
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First party at the house.
The best people.
The reason we built the place 🖤🖤
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I’ve always wanted to be a developer.
After all, my parents were developers when I was little.
In those times, the architect and the general super were the most respected people on site.
An architect who was also a good super was rare and an absolute rock star.
Design and
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If you are in charge of designing anything & you're not playing around with midjourney, what are you even doing these days?
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You know what’s going to happen to a lot of those empty office buildings?
They will be demolished.
Like buildings have always been when a better use was found for the land.
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When a picture just won’t do it justice 🌄
Seeing the storms roll in at sunset is incredible.
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Getting ready for a full house & taking a quiet coffee moment ahead of the rush.
I built this place as a venue for open heart conversations and while not all of them have happened around my kitchen island, my gratitude to those who have gone there with me over the last month is
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