Posted by Derek Leavitt on Thu, Jun 10, 2010 @ 04:52 PM
If you've been following along with us here over the last few weeks, you've surely noticed that we've been bashing open architecture competitions and even suggesting alternatives to these time wasters.
So you may find it a bit hypocritical that today I'm announcing that we won a competition. That is, until you note the following differences between this competition and a typical open architecture competition.
Not Just an Architecture Competition
The competition we entered was through the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to develop housing for the chronically homeless. As I posted back in April, it was a team development competition consisting of other young real estate and social work professionals. Architecture was only a piece of the proposal. Our team had to find a property, create a program, design a project, determine the services offered, and develop a detailed pro forma of how the project would be financed. The process simulated a real project compressed into six weeks.
The site we selected in Glendale.
The Competition Wasn't Open
Our team had to apply in order to get accepted to participate. There were only five teams competing.
We even got to make our own cool logo. We were called Team HETED (Homeless Empowerment Through Efficient Development)
Collaboration
Each team was assigned a city to work with in Los Angeles County: Pasadena, Whittier, East Dominguez Hills, Long Beach and our sponsor city, Glendale. We also worked closely with homeless non-profit advocates and developers, Path Achieve Glendale
and Path Ventures. The city and these organizations acted like our clients. By working with them we got to make real connections. Connections that could lead to future work.
The project concept is a hybrid of preservation of 1920's bungalows and modern intervention of adding new elements to bring the project up to code and provide services for the residents.
Team Aspect
Our team really enjoyed working with each other on this. I think we will collaborate again on future projects.
Exposure
The Urban Land Institute is a diverse organization. It reaches all types of real estate professionals. We prefer this type of exposure over showcasing our work to a bunch of fellow architects.
Pro Bono
This competition was our launch into pro bono work. We spent 130 hours working on this competition. This gives us a real gauge as to the level of commitment required to do future pro bono projects. We already have an idea for our next pro bono project. It won't be through a competition.
Overall view of the project
Whether or not you buy our arguments for entering this competition, I encourage you to check out our winning proposal. You can also view our online press release.
What do you think of our proposal?
Posted by Derek Leavitt on Tue, Apr 27, 2010 @ 11:04 AM
We're big believers in incorporating personality and creativity into our professional brand. In our Rethink Your Resume guide, we encouraged integration of personal interests and photos into professional resumes.
But a resume is just one step in a career. There are so many opportunities to use this strategy.
Once such opportunity was our recent team application to participate in the Urban Land Institute's 1,000 Homes Competition for Housing the Chronically Homeless in LA County.
This annual development competition asks young professionals with different backgrounds to form teams of four to eight members and submit a group application. From those applications, the judges select five teams to participate in the competition.
Our team, called Team HETED (Homeless Empowerment Through Efficient Development), consists of five members with a variety of experience in development, construction, real estate finance, social work, and architecture. While we were confident in our chances of being selected based on our backgrounds (resumes were part of the application), we took no chances and got creative and personal with our statement of interest.
Instead of the typical, bland, corporate sounding group statement, we split our statement of interest into short blurbs about our individual personal interest in entering this competition. Our statements also include our role on the team, education background, and a small picture.
Here's a sampling of our statement of interest page for the competition application, reformated for this post:
| The decision to enter this competition is very personal for each member of Team HETED. While our goal is to combine our skills to create an innovative solution for the homelessness issue in Los Angeles, we feel compelled to share our individual motivations for entering this competition. |
| Jed Tarr Development + Project FeasibilityWilliam Warren GroupDevelopment Associate
Arizona State, B.A. Economics + Real Estate, 2007 |
I think this competition will be a great exercise and experience working together as a team and with the various city agencies to confront a serious issue that not only affects city budgets but more importantly people’s lives. I personally expect this program to inspire my career as a developer, to include non-profit and low-income projects. I bring to the team experience in overall development, including project feasibility & management. 
| Connor Humphreys FinanceBudget Finance Co.Director of Acquisitions
Emory University, B.A. Sociology, 2006 |
This competition provides a chance for me to expand on the real estate related community work I have been involved with in Los Angeles. The competition will allow me to use my expertise and experience in order to provide a valuable service to a section of the community that often goes overlooked. Through my work in residential mortgage finance, I have been involved in efforts to provide counseling and housing solutions to Los Angeles communities that have been hardest hit by the recent wave foreclosures stemming from the mortgage crisis. I have done extensive work building financial models and projections related to real estate and mortgage investments. I hope to bring this skill set to my team to strengthen our project through building a solid financing foundation for our development. I am excited at the opportunity to work with other young professionals across different professional disciplines to bring positive change to the problem of homelessness in the Los Angeles area. I think that the wide array of expertise that each member of my team brings to the table will allow us to create a strong, comprehensive plan that will not only provide shelter for the homeless, but will provide empowerment for members of the community who have, in many cases, been forgotten. 
| Laura Leavitt, MSW Social WorkColumbia University School of Social Work, Masters of Social Work, 2009 Kenyon College, B.A. Psychology, 2005 |
With over five years of experience as an advocate for disadvantaged communities, I have seen the life changing effects of providing housing and social services to individuals and families in need. For the homeless, housing does not simply imply having a roof over one’s head. Housing means safety, health, community, job productivity, educational opportunity, and most of all, hope. With the same vigor that I organized a nationally recognized campaign against homelessness for survivors of domestic violence, I will use my skills in program development and community outreach to establish an innovative, comprehensive and sustainable program that will change the lives of the homeless community in Los Angeles. My complex understanding of homelessness will strengthen our inspired multidisciplinary team and help guide the project towards a model that is both relevant and tangible, as well as effective and efficient.
 | Derek Leavitt, AIA Architecture + DevelopmentModative, Inc.Principal + Founder
University of Southern California, B.Arch + Minor Business, 2000 |
I love being an architect, but often feel that something is missing from my professional life. My industry is primarily geared towards designing buildings for the wealthiest sector of our population. One of the reasons I became an architect was to use design to make a difference in the lives of people whom need my help the most. This competition is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for to use my design and development skills to assist both the people that lack the basic human need of shelter and the communities that seek creative solutions to homeless issues. I am enthusiastic about the diverse skills of Laura (my sister), Jed, and Connor and our ability to create an innovative and appropriate concept for the competition.
Our fifth team member, Idalia Santos, was added to our team after this original application was submitted. Her knowledge of development and construction combined with her passion for homeless issues makes her a highly valuable part of our team.
Going creative and personal can be difficult. The easier approach is to play it safe and go with what's been done before. However, for Team HETED, the creative route worked as we were selected as one of the five teams to participate in the competition. Our team is now partnered up with the City of Glendale and Path Achieve Glendale and over the next six weeks we will develop a proposal for a permanent supportive housing project in Glendale.
What are your thoughts on professional applications?
Posted by Derek Leavitt on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 @ 01:54 PM
Our last post about the advantages of small homes got me thinking, what really constitutes a small home? What is the size cutoff for a home to be considered small?
LEED for Homes (the industry standard for green homes) quantifies this well. Before you can even begin counting points for certification, your level is adjusted according to the size of your home. The smaller your home, the easier it is to get certified.
The chart below shows the home sizes they consider to be "neutral". If your home is larger than the "neutral" size, you're penalized; smaller, you're rewarded.
LEED for Homes Rating System
Threshold Adjustment Equation - "neutral" home sizes
1 Bedroom
| 2 Bedrooms | 3 Bedrooms
| 4 Bedrooms | 5 Bedrooms |
900 sq. ft.
| 1,400 sq. ft. | 1,900 sq. ft. | 2,600 sq. ft. | 2,850 sq. ft. |
I was relieved that my 1,400 sq. ft. two-bedroom townhouse falls directly into the "neutral" home size threshold. How does your home stack up?
The following is the full chart as it is found in the LEED Homes Rating System.
Posted by Derek Leavitt on Sun, Jan 11, 2009 @ 12:58 PM
The Fay Ave. Art District Dwellings small lot subdivision project has been added to the projects section of our website. This project is currently in the tract map process in the City of Los Angeles. The design for these seven homes is inspired by the growing art district in the project's surrounding area.
Posted by Derek Leavitt on Thu, Jan 08, 2009 @ 11:08 AM
We have recently added a few pages of dedicated Small Lot Subdivision Information to our site.
Small Lot Subdivision is an ordinance in the City of Los Angeles that allows you to subdivide lots into small residential parcels (as small as 600 sq. ft.) for the purposes of devloping fee simple housing (meaning you own the land your home sits on verses a condo where it is tied into a home owners association.)
The new Small Lot Subdivision section also shows the small lot projects our office is working on.
If you have any questions about Small Lot Subdivision, please don't hesitate to contact Modative. The code is a bit tricky and we feel that we have learned a lot about its intricacies by going through the process on a few projects.