Fulcrum recently completed a Plan and Cost Review of a multi-family housing development, during which we noted that the architect and civil engineer had overlooked a stipulation included within the zoning approval.
The stipulation required that a 10′ landscape buffer be provided along the project’s northern and southern perimeter. Fulcrum noted that only 3′ had been provided on each side (resulting in a shortfall of 7′), and brought this to the attention of the borrower. Subsequently the architect and civil engineer made revisions to the site plan; however, to accommodate the additional 7′, the parking and drive lanes and apartment buildings had to be moved, the hardscaping, play and pool areas were reconfigured, and the laundry/maintenance building had to be relocated from the rear of the project to the front. Fulcrum also notes that the plans were scheduled to be approved by the City, who had also missed their own requirement. Catching these types of errors does not occur every day; however this is the level of detail and thoroughness that Fulcrum takes pride in when providing such services to our clients. In this case, the costs to rectify the problem could have been extreme if the city had decided to enforce their stipulation after the project had been started or, worse yet, completed.