Date: February 4, 2008
Section: FRONT PAGE
Publication: Indianapolis Business Journal (IN)
Page: 1
Can green be green?
Development firm with environmental bent has $20M pipeline of projects, predicts big payoff
Author(s): Cory Schouten cschouten@ibj.com
Expensive suits and luxury cars are standard issue for most developers, but not for the owners of locally based Casa Verde
LLC. Three of four owners sport beards. They wear sweaters and jeans.
They drive a Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, Hybrid Toyota Highlander and a
Volkswagen Turbo Diesel. They build only Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design, or LEED, certified projects.
But don't let the hippie image mask the company's mission: Make a lot of green by building green.
Casa Verde-which is Spanish
for "green house"-has quickly pieced together a $20 million development
pipeline, anchored by a 40-unit condo project called Jackson Place that
sits about 100 yards from the world headquarters of Cummins Inc. in
Columbus. The project has a $14 million price tag.
As the city's only exclusively green
developer, the firm's results could help pave the way for other firms
to build green projects.
In Indianapolis, Casa Verde's
newest venture is The Broadway a renovation of a 1915 apartment
building at the corner of Broadway and 22nd streets. The $1 million
project calls for 13 LEEDcertified condos, two at market price and the
rest for low-income buyers. Prices will range from $70,000 to $120,000.
Casa Verde bought the
property, which includes two adjoining lots, for $285,000, and plans to
spend another $850,000 on the renovation. The company hopes to demolish
the home next door in an eco-friendly manner, reusing as many of the
raw materials as possible.
Casa Verde also is building
three single-family homes along Park Avenue in the King Park
neighborhood and is working on deals for a retail strip center and a
medical office building.
The company's owners are: Michael J.W. Greven, 50; David Kadlec, 55; Reid Litwack, 46; and Michael Sanders, 43.
Before starting the company, Greven managed
construction for locally based Mansur Development, Kadlec ran his own
marketing business and Sanders was an executive coach. Litwack
continues to run a local steel distributor called Steel House.
The group of friends met over coffee around Litwack's kitchen table in 2006 and decided to start Casa Verde. It began with an initial investment of $115,000.
"Our intention is to be a powerful market
force in Indianapolis," Kadlec said. "We're looking to be effective
businesspeople and to make a difference in the world. We're just seeing
the beginning of a huge wave."
Standards vary
Nationwide, more than $12 billion of green
construction projects are slated to begin in 2008, according to the
Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, the not-for-profit
that sets LEED certification standards.
But movement has been slower to catch on
locally. In early 2007, when the Builders Association of Greater
Indianapolis sent an e-mail inviting more than 300 members to a meeting
of a new Green Building Committee, only two builders attended.
That number has grown to 10, said Micah
Hill, a member of the committee and partner in Indianapolis-based
Re-Development Group Inc., a builder/developer whose projects are
mainly in the urban core.
Re-Development Group incorporates elements
of green-such as energy-efficient windows, doors and insulation-into
every project. The company also builds on urban lots with existing
roads and utilities so it does not contribute to sprawl.
The company, which is owned by Patrick
Dubach, plans to base its green efforts on a set of standards being
developed by the National Association of Homebuilders. The new
standards will be unveiled at the association's national convention in
February. (The more stringent LEED standards-which Casa Verde observes-haven't gained as much traction in residential development as they have in commercial projects.)
A top mission of the new standards will be
to make green possible at a variety of price points, said Steve Lains,
CEO of the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis. They won't
"draw a line in the sand" like LEED, instead giving consumers broad
discretion.
The true measure will be whether buyers are
willing to add 3 percent to 4 percent to the cost of a new home in
exchange for future savings on utilities.
Lains is betting many will. Green building is one of the association's top priorities for 2008.
"We view green not simply as a trend, but as a movement in the marketplace," he said.
Making money
One of Casa Verde's goals is to prove that sustainable is profitable, said Brian Gallagher, the company's first full-time employee.
So far, that has been a challenge. The
company's first single-family home in King Park has not sold, in part
because of its lofty $314,900 price in a neighborhood that includes
several empty lots and abandoned homes. The sluggish market could be
another factor.
The house features spray foam insulation,
bamboo floors, windows that qualify for the government's Energy Star
rating, and a water heater that heats water only as it is needed. The
estimated monthly utility bill for the 2,280-square-foot home is less
than $100.
Casa Verde plans to build a
total of three homes on two King Park lots, at 2125 and 2129 N. Park
Ave. The company paid $115,000 for the properties.
Greven believes demand will grow for green.
"The paradigm is changing," said Greven, who also runs a consulting firm called EcoSource.
Copyright, 2008, IBJ Corp. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of IBJ Corp. by NewsBank, inc.
