Thought Leadership: Chris Trosper & Mike Anthony on Creative Development Solutions

Chris Trosper, Director of Real Estate Development, and Mike Anthony, Director of Project Management, participated in the annual Commercial Real Estate Summit (CRE Summit) held in Omaha, NE, in late August.

During the conference, Chris and Mike led a roundtable discussion entitled, “Creative Development Solutions to Help Meet Growing Industry Demand” that focused on our River Road Logistics development in Council Bluffs, IA. The two-building, 538,000-square-foot Class A industrial development sits on a previously overlooked and underutilized 40-acre parcel of land within the Missouri River’s flood plain.

As Chris explained during the talk, most developers wouldn’t give this kind of site a first look, none-the-less a second look. “When you have a piece of property with designated wetlands, protected levees and an active railroad among a myriad of other challenges, developers don’t normally look at that and say, ‘Yeah. Let’s build here!’” he said. “But this site was in a prime location with great visibility and access to two major interstate highways, so we got the City’s approval to conduct a comprehensive site analysis to get idea of what was really in play. That analysis gave us crucial information that suggested this was a viable development location.”

Added Mike, “This project was really a case study in how creative thinking, sophisticated civil engineering and a strong partnership with the City can result in accomplishing what no one thought could be accomplished. And it demonstrates the value of an integrated design-build approach in which developers think like project managers and project managers think like developers. It’s an approach that facilitates close collaboration and ensures expectations are aligned and risks and rewards are shared.”

The CRE Summit is considered one of the best known and best attended real estate conferences in the Midwest. This year’s event drew more than 900 attendees.

• More about River Road Logistics