From the Court to the Cubicle: Part 2

Going into my fourth week interning at EYA I feel like a seasoned pro! Ok, that might be a stretch but I couldn�t have asked to be in a better situation. This month has flown by! Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday by the way, is right around the corner. Anyway, in the real estate development business, often times all you see is the end product of a new community. New townhouses, new condos, new retail, but what has been most interesting is the behind the scenes work that goes into creating these communities.

It�s similar to the behind the scenes work that an athlete does. What you see is this great player who is exceptionally skilled and dominating everyone on the court. But what you don�t see are the hours spent in the gym training and conditioning, time in the weight room, and visits with doctors and physical therapists. All components of what it takes to be great. Players don�t just show up great. Great athletes are the product of countless hours of hard work. The same goes for this business. You can have an idea about a site that would be awesome to develop. A neighborhood with great potential for new housing and new retail, but to make this become a reality there are endless meetings, hearings, phone calls, negotiations and planning.

Last week, I was able to sit in on some very cool meetings. Most developments have model homes. They give buyers an idea of what their home could look like. How they could possibly use the space and are just more welcoming than an empty unit. They make it easy for a potential buyer to imagine how they will live in the property. I would love to move into a model home! All I�d have to bring were my shoes and clothes! Since I�m not really into picking out paint, furniture, rugs, etc., I would much rather let a professional do all the decorating.

EYA�s model homes are always so nicely decorated. Perfect paint colors, amazing furniture, dinnerware that matches tablecloths, awesome paintings that somehow go great with the rug and sofa, all coming together to set up the perfect room! Something that would be impossible for me to duplicate! Either way, I went to a meeting with the interior decorators from Carlyn & Company who recently won awards along with EYA for Best Interior Design for models at Old Town Commons and at Chancellor�s Row. This day, they were presenting their ideas of how to decorate the model homes of the new Mosaic Community in Northern Virginia. Room by room they went through the color schemes, furniture choices, furniture placement, and explained why they thought what they had chosen would be best for these models. Taking into account the surrounding area, what�s popular in design, and how to appeal to different buyers. It�s hard for me to put it all together in my mind, but from the looks of model homes they�ve previously decorated I�m sure that it will turn out to be another amazing production.

Another meeting that I thought was very interesting was the actual design process of condo units. Sitting in with engineers, architects and interior designers as they went over 30 different floor plans was pretty intense. They were arranging the basic layout of spaces within the building. Deciding how the kitchen would be designed; from where cabinets would go, the placement of appliances, to whether or not it would include an island. Where the bedrooms and den would be located that would create the most effective use of the space, along which wall would the fireplace go, or how the entryway would be positioned. A very complex and tedious process that is just another part to this very detailed business. These two meetings were definitely a cool change of pace and I�ve been able to see just how hands on EYA are with every aspect of the development process. I�ll have to tell you guys about my visit to the construction site at Capital Quarter, but I�ll save that for my next entry.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!