Aliana- Richmond, TX
Our team joined this project as part of the owner’s effort to salvage an ineffective development strategy. The previous developer’s vision didn’t fit the market and the project was losing traction. Our team planned the relaunch of the community and presented the new strategy to the owners. The owners of the development had a strong vision for future growth but were new to master planned communities. For Fort Bend County this was the first large development along the Grand Parkway between US 59 and Westpark Tollroad. It had the potential to be the center of a new commercial/retail hub with housing, and that was our goal.
The project’s unique circumstances required a rebranding and redesign of the community. When we were brought onto the team, there was not a sense of arrival to the community, the brand was ineffective, and there was not a connection to the most traveled nearby roadway, the Grand Parkway. We had multiple brainstorming sessions with our landscape architect and engineers and evaluated multiple options, considering costs and alignment with our owners’ goals.
We presented our recommended option to the owners and, despite requiring a significant financial investment to rebrand and reposition the community, the plan was approved. Upon implementation, Aliana became a top selling community in the Houston market within two years.
"Keith Behrens is a solid problem-solver, effectively managing multidimensional projects while balancing requirements and resources within a large, complex, phased development."
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Travis Stone
President, Airia Development
(formerly Aliana Development)
Due to the large scale, outside consultants were brought in for every aspect of the project from envisioning through design, construction, and marketing. It was essential to communicate and meet regularly in order to provide leadership and guidance to the team. Continuity was achieved through communication, status reports, and weekly meetings within each area of activity. Meetings were held at the executive level, project design level, and construction level, then leaders of each level reviewed together for a comprehensive update. The project delivery timeline for this multi-phased project was dictated by monitored home sales pace and working with homebuilders. Project Delivery was on time for each phase of completion, which was necessary to maintain the development’s newfound momentum. The budget was $220 million for the life of project. Working upfront with our engineers and architect, we set the budget yearly and updated it quarterly. Cost savings were achieved by always seeking creative solutions that were tailored to the specific goals of the project. Expectations were managed accordingly for owners and financial partners.