Sustainable/Planned Unit Developments (PUD)

Sustainable or “green” real estate practices are critical components to consider in real estate developments. Simply stated, projects can be built or refurbished with green features that lessen the impact of development on our climate and environment. PUD’s are both a type of building development and a regulatory process which incorporate important sustainable real estate practices. PUD’s often occur on a large tract of land as a complete neighborhood unit that offers a range of dwelling types, local shopping facilities, off-street parking areas, parks, playgrounds, schools sites and other community facilities.

Vantage Point Real Estate Development Management, LLC senior professionals understand that promoting large-scale, unified land development has many benefits that incorporate sustainable features and characteristics, such as: a mixture of both land uses and dwelling types with at least one of the land uses being regional in nature; the clustering of residential land uses providing public and open spaces; more flexibility and administrative discretion by local professional planning staffs not bound by rigid regulations; and, the enhancement of the bargaining process between a developer and government officials, which in turn strengthens government site plan review and control over development, while potentially increasing developer profits due to land efficiency, multiple uses and increased densities.

Our senior professionals often point out important new evidence illustrating that green property development practices frequently deliver superior financial returns and market performance. They demonstrate the growing industry experience that continues to drive down costs, and that experienced developers regularly build to green or sustainable standards for a similar cost as typical construction.

The data suggests that green/sustainable real estate development often delivers enhanced performance of the market as compared to traditional construction, due to high appeal to owners and renters, quicker project approvals, shorter lease-up times, lower operating costs and the achievement of top-tier leases.