IRIVINE, Calif.– Feb. 9, 2009 – Land consulting powerhouse Developers Research today announced a merger of operations with a respected California homebuilding company in a move that will offer financial institutions a one-stop shop for getting troubled real estate back on track.
The combination of Developers Research and Classic Pacific Construction under one roof will offer holders of distressed property the ability not only to analyze a partially built project’s problems, but to fix them, said Developers Research president Barry Gross. That means covering everything from cost analysis and entitlement to all aspects of horizontal and vertical construction – up to and including the marketing of completed homes.
“We’re going to help the financial institution make a decision about whether to take control of a project,” said Gross. “Then from that point we’ll streamline the rest of process through every phase until they’re ready to dispose of the project. We can accelerate that whole process and keep it simpler at the same time.”
The combined firm’s clients will include banks and other financial institutions, as well as investment companies and court-appointed receivers in Southern California.
“This merger represents an opportunity for our existing and proposed clients to be able to solve their problems very quickly with highly qualified, experienced real-estate operators,” Gross added.
The expanded company will continue to do business as Developers Research, with Classic Pacific functioning as a wholly owned subsidiary out of the same headquarters in Irvine. It will bring to its existing and prospective clients unique expertise and capabilities to help them manage in the wake of the housing collapse.
Firms typically involved in project-rescue efforts are developers and builders hurriedly backtracking from the construction site to build competence in the areas that are in most demand now. Those are in crucial analytical services such as due diligence, maintenance of entitlements, precise budgeting and reliable cost-to-complete estimates that are needed to bring a stalled project to fruition.
Developers Research starts from a solid grounding in those areas that goes back more than a decade – with a database of experience based on its team’s cost-consulting and due diligence work on nearly 8,000 projects nationwide. Gross, himself, is a nationally recognized land-development expert and lecturer whose advice is widely sought in areas of costs and scheduling.
Classic Pacific adds to that knowledge base with its on-the-ground experience building more than 1,000 homes, developing more than 3,100 lots, and developing more than 4.3 million square feet of commercial and industrial space in the past eight years.
“So it’s not like we’re trying to propose just a theoretical solution to the problems,” said Classic Pacific President John Patterson, “We’re actually bringing in a real practical solution – and then we’re going to execute it ourselves at the site.”
Patterson has a long track record in California home construction even prior to his involvement with Classic Pacific. In 1986, he formed Pacific Crest Homes, Inc. and built three projects in Orange County with more than 400 units combined with total sales exceeding $120,000,000; and has been active in the real estate development industry for the past 23 years. Prior to starting Pacific Crest, Mr. Patterson served as vice president in the real-estate finance group for California First Bank.
Developers Research is a national real estate consulting firm based in Southern California. Its senior executives include experienced land developers and financial analysts. The company’s staff of specialists has completed more than 7,000 assignments in 25 states and four countries. DR is highly regarded for its proprietary analytical models and methods of evaluating risk associated with real estate acquisition, development and disposition. For more information visit
www.dev-res.com .
2151 Michelson Drive, Suite 190 | Irvine, CA 92612
Phone: (949) 861-3300 | Fax: (949) 861-3333
