Between Passover and Independence Day I was invited by a client to a key handover event for a project that he brought to completion, and which our office accompanied from the day the land was located. Beyond the great excitement of the developer and his team, we all had a feeling of elevation after all the obstacles we overcame over the last 5 years.
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal,” Henry Ford
It is a local authority that everyone knew “does not go easy” on developers, in a country where the way to solve problems was in any case through bribes and string-pulling. So from the outset we knew the road would not be easy, but we did not guess how much.
After the land was purchased, the plan was prepared by the architect, and at a meeting held with the city engineer he refused to approve the plan, although according to the architect it met the requirements of the local zoning plan. The developer sent all of us to look for a solution. The local partner proposed dividing the project into phases, so that each time we would submit a permit application only for the maximum number of houses permitted without resubmitting plans. Despite the difficulties the proposal created, it was supposed to save time, but at the same time it created other difficulties (take for example the infrastructure issue - how is the electricity company that is supposed to connect the houses to the grid supposed to relate to the matter, when we know that later we will build more houses).
When the answer to the permit application for building the first phase was received the entire team was in shock. It turned out that, contrary to the documents we had, according to which the requirement is to keep a distance of 3 meters from the plot line, the municipality asked to keep 5 meters from the plot line. Again the team went into intensive activity. The plot owners on one side agreed to allow reducing the distance from 5 meters to 3 meters, to enable the developer to build, with the developer giving reciprocal consent. The plot owners on the other side refused. The meaning of the refusal - the project stuck or a change in the plans. Here the architect showed flair and flexibility, returned to the drawing board and prepared an alternative plan within a few days, which met the municipality's requirements.
And again, the municipality asks us to resubmit the plans. The local legal team, under my guidance, informs the municipality that since the first plan submitted was based on data from documents given by it, and this error is causing us delays and expenses, if they do not act in an expedited process the municipality will be exposed to a lawsuit for the damage caused to the developer. A few more meetings of our local partner with the city architect, and the new plan was approved and a building permit was granted for the first phase.
When we submitted the application to build the second phase, the plans had already been adapted to all the problems that arose and were solved in the first phase, only here too not everything was smooth. Between the grant of the permit for the first phase and the application for the permit for the second phase, the municipal leadership changed as a result of elections. The new mayor summoned the developer to a meeting, to which the developer asked that I and the local partner accompany him. At that meeting the new mayor explained to us that he was not willing to approve plans like these in phases, although according to the law there is no barrier to this. He wants us to go through an approval process for all the remaining phases of the project (a process that takes two years at the very least). We were all in shock. We left the meeting in mourning, heads bowed.
In the evening, as we sat at the hotel bar, the developer proposed that the next day he would meet the mayor alone and offer to pave the access road to the project at his own expense (although the municipality is obliged to do so) and also to donate to the municipality a building in the project that would serve as a kindergarten.
During construction too the developer encountered quite a few problems, starting with a worker on site who fell from scaffolding, which caused the arrest of the contractor and a halt to the works for 4 weeks; neighbors who filed complaints and caused repeated visits by representatives of the authorities to the site; an early and harsh winter that caused works to stop.
Throughout the road we felt that what strengthens us and enables us to keep progressing is the team leading the project, which was harnessed at every moment to find alternative solutions, to flex quickly, to change concept, planning and more.
If you are developers or planning a real estate project we would recommend:
- Clearly define the goals of the project and your expectations of the team.
- Choose professionals with experience and know-how in real estate in the relevant country.
- Be flexible, respond quickly.
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית