Understanding the first stages of a project with J.& W. Lowry
Property development is a complex process involving the coordination of multiple activities to make an idea become a reality. The business process involves the financing and construction of land or buildings to make a profit or marginal utility (typically only applicable to public sector projects).
At J. & W. Lowry, we take pride in our projects and our ability to see them through from conception to completion. We want our clients to be fully aware of each step of the projects and the process that they’ll go through with us.
Let’s take a look at the initial stages of a project you can expect when working with J. & W. Lowry.
The Stages of Development
Commonly, development is considered the construction of a building, however, the process is much wider and includes:
Initiation and evaluation
Land and property acquisition
Design and permissions
Construction
Management or disposal
Most developments will follow these stages but there are some exceptions such as:
A landowner explores development (thereby switching stage 1 and stage 2)
A development ‘changes hands’ part way through the process: this can happen when a landowner wants to sell a site with planning permission (leading to the purchaser completing the final stages of the process)
J. & W. Lowry can assist at all the stages of the development process, from initial evaluation of the development through to management or disposal.
Initial Stages
The primary stages in any property development are:
deciding what the nature of the development will be
whether or not to proceed with the development.
These decisions are normally based on future predictions for the use of the site and involve careful evaluation of the market and financial appraisal of the proposed development.
This process can often be overlooked and it is difficult to get right, therefore it is important to ensure that the right people and professionals are involved at this stage to avoid costly abortive work.
Initiation and evaluation: What’s involved?
J. & W. Lowry works with a team of trusted and experienced consultants to evaluate each development.
We meticulously draw on expert advice to consider what the best use of the site would be. This process involves looking at feasibility studies, running initial development appraisals and establishing the Management or Disposal strategy.
This is an extremely important stage in the development process and is key to avoiding abortive cost later on.
What’s next?
In our next blog post we’ll take a look at the next stages of the process - including Land and Property Acquisition and Design and Permissions.