Beyond the Rendering: The Criteria I Use to Judge New Construction

Every new construction pitch I've ever seen starts with a rendering. Clean lines, perfect landscaping, golden-hour lighting and happy people walking dogs past the front door. I like good design as much as anyone. But a rendering is the easiest part of a project to produce, and it tells you almost nothing about whether the project will be built well, on time and for the people who are actually going to use it.

As my focus has moved toward global acquisitions, land and new construction, I've developed a set of criteria I run every build through. Some of them came from banking. Some came from years of managing a luxury fleet. All of them came from learning what goes wrong when you skip a step.

1. Product fit for the location

The first question isn't “is this beautiful?” It's “is this what people in this exact location want and can support?” A luxury home in the wrong pocket of a market can sit. A modest product in a premium location can leave value on the table. I want to see why this particular product belongs on this particular piece of land, backed by real comparables and real demand, not adjectives.

2. The builder's track record

When I evaluated vehicles for Royal Rentals, the car's history mattered as much as its spec sheet. Builders are the same. I want to see completed projects, how close they came to their original schedule and budget, how they handled problems and what the people who bought or occupied those projects say about them. A builder who can talk openly about a project that went sideways, and what they learned, earns more trust from me than one who claims everything has always gone perfectly.

3. Realistic budget and contingency

Construction costs move. Materials, labor, permitting and weather all have a way of humbling a spreadsheet. I look closely at what contingency is built into the budget, what assumptions it's based on and who absorbs overruns. If a budget only works when everything goes right, it doesn't work.

4. Entitlements, permits and timeline honesty

What's already approved, and what still needs approval? Some of the most painful delays in development happen before a shovel ever hits the ground. I want a timeline that separates what's in hand from what's hoped for, with clear owners for every remaining step.

5. Materials and climate

Operating a fleet in Scottsdale and spending time in Dubai taught me how much climate punishes shortcuts. Heat, sun and dust are hard on everything. In development, I pay attention to whether materials, systems and design choices fit the climate the building will live in for decades, not just what looks good on opening day.

6. Operating reality after delivery

A building isn't finished when it's finished. Someone has to own it, maintain it, manage it and live or work in it. I want to understand what the property looks like five and ten years after completion: maintenance needs, management plans, how it might be used as a rental or hospitality product and what it will take to keep it at the standard it was sold on. My hospitality background makes me a little obsessive here. The experience of the person inside the building is the product.

7. Structure, documentation and alignment

Finally, I want to know how the deal is organized and whether everyone at the table is aligned. Who controls decisions? How is information shared? What happens if the plan changes? Good projects have clear documentation and partners who are comfortable answering hard questions in writing.

Why I share this

I write about my criteria publicly because I want to attract the right partners: land owners, developers, builders and investors who appreciate a disciplined, hospitality-minded approach to building. Any specific opportunity is discussed privately, only with appropriate parties and only after proper diligence and documentation.

The rendering will always be beautiful. My job is to make sure the building is too, long after the photos are taken.