Roundtable: How to Handle Client Relationship Breakdowns

Though we enter new client engagements with energy, enthusiasm, and high hopes for what the future holds, the reality of realizing any built project is that it places stress on the clients, the project collaborators, and on the original vision for the project.

We are wise to counsel clients (before we engage!) that there will be ups and downs, and that this process can often be additive, though it seldom feels like it at the time.

Many projects survive or even flourish in the crucible of getting the work done. Others, for a variety of reasons, do not.

Site Tour Austin: Community First! Village

We are pleased to invite Brick & Wonder Pro & Council members in Austin & beyond to a private tour of the Community First! Village in Austin, TX, featuring 3D printed homes from ICON.

Community First! Village occupies 51 acres on Hog Eye Road in northeast Travis County.

This remarkable community development has been described by the New York Times as “one of the nation’s largest experiments in affordable housing to address chronic homelessness.”

It is currently home to more than 350 formerly homeless neighbors. With the completion of all homes projected by the end of 2023, it will soon provide housing and community for as many as 500 of our friends who once struggled to survive on the streets of Austin.

Workshop: Financial Modeling for Real Estate Development

Want to build your understanding of real estate development deal analysis? Interested in starting your own speculative development project? This Workshop is for you!

Led by Lead Analyst at Accredev, Stephon Smith, this online session will cover the fundamentals of commercial real estate (CRE) financial model design. It will focus on the key elements that are most often omitted from financial models, including multi-perspective project cost analysis, income offsets, dynamic debt constraints, and financial statement design, among others.

Pro & Council Spring Cocktails: Artemest Galleria

We’re excited to invite Brick & Wonder Pro and Council members and select guests to our Spring Social at Artemest Galleria in Chelsea, NYC!

Join us for a fun and informal gathering for Brick & Wonder members, and guests interested in learning more about the Brick & Wonder community.

We’ll celebrate Spring in NYC in a beautiful and newly renovated indoor-outdoor space.

Roundtable: Making Great Decisions

How do you make critical decisions? Do you use a values-based decision-making framework, or another framework to check your instincts?

In this Roundtable, we’ll discuss strategies and insights on how to make better decisions and ease decision fatigue.

Workshop: Financial Management for Service and Consulting Businesses

Many of the businesses that make up the built environment industry have service-based business models: architects, interior designers, engineers, accountants, publicists, strategists, brand designers, photographers, and more. These businesses can be challenging to manage and grow, partly because a service model tempts us to over-deliver value to please the client. We hope to sustain the project, perhaps earn repeat business, or win future referrals.

The online workshop will be led by financial management consultant, Yotam Kedem. While Yotam is an expert in financial management for architecture and engineering firms, insights from his experience will apply across many of the disciplines in our diverse professional community. We encourage you to join us!

Roundtable Austin: Making Better Decisions

How do you make decisions?

Do you use a values-based decision-making framework, or another framework to check your instincts?

In this Roundtable members will share their experiences in decision-making and how the use of frameworks has influenced their memorable business decisions.

Site Tour: Perelman Performing Arts Center

We are thrilled to offer Brick & Wonder Pro and Council members a private tour of one of New York’s most sensational new buildings – the Perelman Performing Arts Center.

The creation of a performing arts center is a key component of the 2003 Master Plan developed by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to rebuild the 16-acre World Trade Center campus.

Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) is a 129,000 square foot building on multiple levels. The performance space offers flexible layouts in three theater spaces that can be combined to provide dozens of seating configurations, and the lobby level includes a restaurant, bar, terrace, and stage open to the public.

PAC NYC has three flexible, intimate performance spaces. Automated walls and flexible seating systems enable numerous configurations that create a range of unique experiences for audiences and artists.

The tour will be generously facilitated by Sean Michael Cummings, PAC’s Director of Individual Giving, and led by direct project collaborators sharing their first-hand experiences working on the building.

Workshop: Art, Identity & Growth

We welcome all Brick & Wonder members and select guests to join this online workshop focused on Art, Identity & Growth.

We also encourage Brick & Wonder members to invite their own clients who may be considering art purchases for their projects to join this session.

This session will cater to those who already love and understand art, those who don’t and may be “art curious”, and anyone in between.

In this Workshop, we will provide easy, actionable ways to reconsider the way we see and use art. You will leave this workshop with a better understanding of how you want to grow individually and/or professionally, and how thinking about art in new ways can help you achieve your goals. In turn, art can become more relatable to your everyday life, enriching your daily experiences, and propelling you forward.

Roundtable Austin: The Specialist vs The Generalist

Most are familiar with the adage “jack of all trades, master of none, ” and you’ve likely debated the pitfalls of specialization or generalization in your business and personal skill set.

Whether project types, services offered, or clients cultivated, it can be hard to choose between perfecting your niche or expanding your offerings.

In this Roundtable, we’ll explore how real estate and design rewards and punishes specialization, generalization, and the area in between.