Not too long ago I was perusing the newsstand at my local book store. I will admit it, I have an addiction to books, magazines and newspapers. Odd in this day and age of technology I know, but I can't help it - I love the crack of a fresh book spine as I really get into a chapter or an article in a magazine. I love that my hands are smudged after reading the paper daily and if I am not careful I will end up with inky smudges on my face.
Ok, enough about my addiction, this fine day the Conde Nast Portfolio caught my attention. The feature article for October was about Toll Brothers. Auspiciously titled, Mr. McMansion: Megabuilder Bob Toll helped get us into this mess. Can he get us out? with a toothy grin of Bob Toll, CEO of Toll Brothers on the cover. Immediately I was angry and nauseous I had to figure out A) what makes these developers types tick and B) why Toll looked so smug. (Toll is also quoted on the front cover, "It was not just our greed, but the greed of our buyers.") Toll Brothers was founded 40 years ago by brothers, Bruce and Bob Toll. Originally poised to build for the growing middle class market, Toll Brothers has since become a mainstay in the luxury home market, think McMansion and in my estimation all that is wrong with the housing industry. These are the developments that have taken over family farmland - who could compete with what these guys where offering to buy up tracts of land in what is now suburbia? Family farms didn't stand a chance.
I don't know that I need to delve into what these new single-family developments have meant for commuters, families and communities. I will be happy to address this later. What frustrates me is Toll's own admission although not direct, that there is something seedy about how they have done business and what they (meaning these developers) have created. (Note: Toll lives in a 19th century farmhouse in Bucks County, PA.)
Take a look at any of these developed and planned neighborhoods, many of them now showing up on the evening news, riddled with foreclosure signs. As the camera pans down one of these suburban streets it is hard to miss the brick facades, which wraps about 12 inches around the sides of the home, to be met with vinyl siding. Yes, folks vinyl siding on these "luxury" homes! Homes that make no sense with regard to style and scale. Interior foyers that span two and maybe three floors. Rooms so vast that one could roller skate through them or even better find their way to their own bowling alley or movie theater. Granted I understand that desire for space and bigger is better and if its bigger than my neighbor's well, that will show them. But when did it become the norm to compromise quality for size? Shoddy over the creative and comfortable? How do folks heat these homes? I can't imagine what kinds of indoor air quality issues they face with the off-gassing of the interior finishes and above all what is that vinyl siding hiding?
The article goes through the brothers building their business and Bob Toll's particular knack for spotting a deal and outperforming industry trends with his business model. There is no arguing the he's a savvy business man. The article references that building an expensive home does not cost more than building a cheap one. Hard to figure, but I imagine that when you have the template in place for construction and deals in materials, labor and land, this really does ring true. It is an amazing phenomenon, Rice (the article's author) refers to the demand as the willingness to "drive until they qualified" trading long commutes for grander and bigger, with blessings from the bank. So in the end Toll Brothers were feeding a demand in the market, nothing wrong with that right? Well, somehow I just feel that there is a better more thoughtful way to do business and build homes. In my estimation, Toll Brothers is in the same league as D.R Horton and Hovnanian - there are others, but not worth mentioning because by now I am sure that you get the drift.
On the flip side there are developers who are creating exceptional homes, particularly in urban areas with infrastructure already in place - Abdo and Empire Properties, are just a couple. In the coming weeks I will be listing more of these "Notable Developers".
In the meantime, I encourage you to read the article or investigate some of these developers. They are not all cut from the same cloth - as evidenced by Abdo, Empire, and a handful of others. These developers have been successful reusing and renovating existing and historic buildings in our towns and cities. Some of the most successful projects have been adaptive reuse developments. The existing and historic building stock in our towns and cities remains an untapped resource when it comes to creating vibrant, livable communities. Unfortunately the majority are in it to make a fast buck, regardless of community or quality. Oddly enough I went to school with the son of a rather successful Midwestern developer. When it came time for this "gentleman" to renovate his own home A) it wasn't one that his development company had designed or built and B) he was clear in his instructions to the architect that he didn't want anyone from his crew/company to work on his home. Now if that doesn't tell you something about the character of a man, I don't know what will.
I encourage you to educate yourself about not only what you want in a home but what you don't want - this can be a time consuming task, but given that your home will be the greatest financial investment of your lifetime, don't you think you are worth it?
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