Karma – The Art of Architecture Design w/ Jason Boyer of Boyer Vertical BRT S04 EP12 (174) 3-19-2023
Mar 22, 2023
Karma – The Art of Architecture Design w/ Jason Boyer of Boyer Vertical
BRT S04 EP12 (174) 3-19-2023
What We Learned This Week
- Architect first, then a Developer. All about the Design of a project.
- No unlimited budget. You have to work within your constraints to build better projects.
- Real Estate is a Team sport. Build your relationships as it becomes a major part of your success.
- Good Design is Good Business
Guest: Jason Boyer of Boyer Vertical
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasondboyer/
Twitter: BOYER_JDB
Portfolio - karmaphx.com / arthausphx.com
Karma Booklet 2023: Click HERE
Article – Karma Project 2016: Click HERE
Article – artHaus Project 2016: Click HERE
Architect and Real Estate Developer
About
“For me, good design isn’t about pushing the envelope—it’s about
redefining it. It’s about looking at things differently until the
spark appears. From this core inspiration, the projects and teams I
work with start a dialogue with stakeholders. And we don’t stop
until we take you past the finish line. Sure, I want you to be
thrilled about the end results. But I also want you to feel like
you’ve been part of the process along the way.”
A Masters of Architecture graduate from Arizona State University,
Jason was recognized among the top 3 graduates in his class and has
since maintained a connection to the ASU school of architecture as
an Adjunct Faculty. At age 35 Jason was named Principal and
Director of Architecture of the Phoenix office of OWP/P, a notable
accomplishment in a profession where the average principal age is
52. In 2009 OWP/P merged with Cannon Design where Jason served as a
Principal and Design Leader for Cannon Design’s Phoenix based
Western Mountain Region office. In 2012 Jason formed Jason Boyer
Architects adding real estate development to his entrepreneurial
skillset with the successful completion of artHAUS, a nationally
recognized transit-oriented infill project.
He has since transformed his practice into a real estate
development platform, re-establishing it as Boyer Vertical in 2020.
Boyer Vertical integrates architecture, development, and
design|build construction under a single real estate platform
focused on sustainably minded architecturally significant projects
throughout Arizona. Jason’s career experiences has given him the
opportunity to develop a diverse portfolio of building commissions
across a spectrum of industries and uses, including all scales of
residential, higher education, academic medical, sports, civic and
commercial architecture.
Jason’s community involvement has included the AIA Arizona
Executive Board and Phoenix Metro Chapter Executive Board where he
served as President in 2017, the Urban Land Institute Arizona
Programs Committee, ASU School of Architecture Partners Program,
Society for College and University Planning, and the National
Intramural-Recreational Sports Association.
Specialties:
generating value through creative design thinking and strategic
problem solving
leading technical competency through timeless detailing and
appropriate material sensibilities
enabling client and project team success through proactive design
management prowess
Building Typology Strengths: All scales of Residential, Commercial
+ Mixed-Use, Higher Education, Sports Performance and Health +
Wellness
Notes
Seg. 1
Karma is his current project – housing community with 11 single-family units, two stories, 2500 ft.² each
Jason had and LOI in November 2019, then the deal fell through. In March 2020, the deal opportunity was back on, and by June 2020 it was under contract. Construction started February 2021, demo the site and start building.
This was the first time Jason was doing commercial scale work, of design, develop and construction. Jason was the architect and developer on this project. He oversaw it from A to Z.
The biggest project Jason has worked on is the Center Point Condominiums in Tempe AZ That design took 5 years and was 800 condos and lofts. The upscale Centerpoint condos in Tempe includes two towers — one 22 stories, the other 30 stories. The project has 375-units and initially most of them were priced above $350,000. Now, its new owners are changing the name to West Sixth and turning the units into apartments.
Karma is an infell project, residential built in a suburban neighborhood. Neighborhood is Madison Heights near 16th St. and Bethany home. Good residential neighborhood with freeway access, good schools, restaurants, dubbed Arcadia light.
The term “infill development” refers to building within unused and underutilized lands within existing development patterns, typically but not exclusively in urban areas.
Jason had a particular design for the actual house, where when you walk in the front door you’re in the middle of the home. He also designed a flex space or 4th bedroom that can be used as a dedicated home office. Has a split master. Keep in mind this was going on during Covid, and people wanted a home office space.
Seg. 2
Any neighborhood project needs to enhance the community. Jason got the funding to purchase 3 outdated parcels. Then did a tear-down to build Karma.
Jason‘s background is he is an architect of almost 30 years (1994 ASU Grad School). He has owned a practice, been the principal of the Arizona office of a major US chain doing private development. He has also been a partner in other firms.
Jason‘s preference for design is to do cool stuff, and he prefers residential projects.
He’ll take ideas from his team, and from clients. Then he will synthesize them into a design solution. You always have to be wary of what the cost is, and can the project be built.
Most projects do not have an unlimited budget. You have to work within your constraints to build better projects.
Often most jobs are messy projects. You need an adaptive reuse of buildings and find good ideas.
Seg. 3
How does Jason see himself, as an architect or a developer? Jason is an architect first, and that’s foundational to who he is. It has also provided him the opportunities to become a developer.
Build your relationships as it becomes a major part of your success. Real estate is a team sport. As you go, you get smarter.
You have to align the risk of a project. Everyone works towards the same and goal. Projects are often financed by the bank or private capital groups. It will take 1 year to get a project financed.
Prior to the Karma project Jason designed artHaus on Central Ave. This was a 25 condo deal in midtown Phoenix in 2016. Jason was able to accomplish this goal and now has built credibility and trust with lenders. In 2020 when he went for financing for Karma, it took 30 days.
What is Jason’s next project? He will look at a dozen, before one sticks. He has a few ideas floating around. One is for an 80 unit multi family mixed use what’s food type development. Another idea is considering is building modern cabins in the Flagstaff area.
Seg. 4
Boyer Vertiscal was started in 2020 with Karma. You have to build your team, and have primary people for each part of the project.
Karma project has three construction guys, Elaina doing PR, a bookkeeper, real estate contacts, 3 to 5 architects on the team on the design ( for his next project 2 senior architects, and three interns).
Then you need a group of consultants, landscape architect, engineers of civil mechanical electrical structural, lighting, engineering science for noise, power, and Geotech report for soils.
They were careful when working on lighting to define sustainable and energy efficient LED lighting. Also put in skylights for natural light with the sun, plus artificial lights. They also wanted to be careful where the glass facades were facing in dealing with the heat. He put his windows at the end of the wall so when sunlight comes in, it paint the wall to light up the room, while also providing privacy.
This team is a collaboration designed to optimize the project. Start early with the team working together. He expects to use the same team as before on his next project.
Bonus
Investors always want to talk about your past track record, what the deal and cost points are. Good design is also good business.
One needs to talk about your team, and also build a pool of investors. Jason puts his own money into a project, and he bought one of the homes at Karma.
His artHaus project of 2016 had an internal rate of return (IRR) of 17%. Align the rest of people in the project, if you want ownership and projects.
Why invest - what it takes to get to a yes. Excess designs accessible, lives in his design space.
His neighbors at Karma include his real estate broker Oleg Bortman of The Brokery . Their neighbors live next to the realtor and the architect who designed and sold the project.
Related Show:
Relentlessly Local Real Estate w/ Oleg Bortman of The Brokery
BRT S04 EP08 (170) 2-19-2023 – FULL SHOW: HERE
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Investing Topic: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/investing
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