Building Resident-Centric Communities: Cortland and VCC Redefine Real Estate Development through Innovation and Collaboration

We found this site three years ago in ChampionsGate, which is a really nice master planned community with lots of amenities, golf course, retail, and we really quickly fell in love with the site. Our long term success is fundamentally rooted in our ability to deliver resident experience and a community that nobody else can. And if we long term want to be known for having a brand that's innovative and resident-centric, then we have the most flexibility to do that from the ground up. Cortland is always looking to innovate around the resident experience. So we try to innovate with a valet trash service, with electric vehicle chargers, different sound assemblies to make it better for the resident. And VCC really worked with us as we tried new things on this project. With VCC, we got a national partner that is able to work with us as we continue on our geographic expansion. Having one group that we can really come back to for all of our projects brings us a ton of value. Our multifamily endeavor started growing kind of after the recession of '08 or '09. I'd say market sector wise, that was a 15, 20, 25% kind of gradual growth for us. I feel like that kind of regionally started primarily in the Southeast and Texas and now we're nationwide working in those sectors. They are working with us as we're developing our standards. They're helping us iterate on our design for products that are more buildable or look better, last longer, age better. And so having that partnership across all of our projects really brings a lot of value to us. We do, without a doubt have one of the strongest quality control programs of any general contractor. Our dedicated QC department is really focused on this wood frame product, whether it's the actual framing portion and coordination with the documents or making sure things go in the first time right to really give them a high quality product. What gets me going on any project is working with our guys and that goes beyond just the VCC company, but also our clients. And we've been fortunate, really fortunate to have some clients that really value having us on the team. There is something rewarding about that for me personally. It's also rewarding to know that we've got individuals that work for us that, you know, help support their family, help support their career. It's something they get excited about whenever we're solving a problem together. Having a team relationship about me personally is what gets me excited. You know, feeling like you've delivered for somebody that is in need and is looking for some help or some service and you're able to provide that, there's something, I think, rewarding and satisfying about that. And that for me is what's important. Cortland continues to build our pipeline and new development projects, and we would absolutely look to use VC again on all those projects and all of our core markets. We're starting up another project in Colorado Springs and VCC is working closely with us and design phase there and look forward to kicking off really soon.