drb development solutions
Economically Speaking: Must All Good Things Come to an End?
DRB Development Solutions | October 26, 2018
By Donald R. Boyken, FRICS, FAACE, CCP Each year, The Hotel Lodging Conference invites leading economists to offer their predictions for the Hotel industry. This year, there was more belief in their predictions than in prior years. I say belief because judging by their presentations it was clear they included their political preference as part of their forecasting. The conclusion/question: How long could the good times roll? The pessimistic and optimistic outlooks agree – Something will happen to the economy in the next two years. However, the degree of impact was tainted by their political outlook. Readers of this article underst...
“Designing to a Budget” Rather Than “Budgeting a Design”
DRB Development Solutions | August 23, 2018
One of the most common mistakes made by Owners is failing to provide a budget for the design team to achieve. Too often we find that an Owner has provided the designers a concept or idea of what the project is to achieve, seeking some spectacular look or feel. Then Owners let the design team create that image and feeling. I am sure there often is a "notional discussion" of a budget but in my experience that is never really heard by the designers or resurrected by the Owners until after the first pricing exercise. Please do not get me wrong, this reactionary practice has kept our firm very busy for more than 35 years. We are repeatedly c...
