There’s a dynamic in development that nobody talks about enough: the triangle.
On one side you have the owner. On another, the general contractor. On the third, the lender. Every major project runs through this triangle, and if any one side loses trust in the others, the whole thing slows down or falls apart.
My job as an owner’s representative is to keep all three sides moving in sync.
Here’s what that looks like in practice: I’ll sit down with a GC and review their application for payment. We go back and forth. Voices get raised. I push back hard. The work in place has to match what they’re billing for. We eventually land on a number. Then I take that same number to the construction lender. And sometimes the bank’s designee calls me and says, absolutely not, we think it’s too much.
So within the same hour, I’ve been telling the GC their number is too high, and then telling the bank they need to approve the payment. That’s not a contradiction. That’s the job. Cash flow is oxygen for a project. If the GC doesn’t get paid, work stops. If the lender isn’t satisfied, the relationship breaks down. You have to know which hat to wear and when to switch.
The same triangle applies to architects and engineers. They’re talented (artists in their own right), but they’re not always business people. They don’t always understand that there’s a cost to a project on a per-day basis. Every day something doesn’t happen, the owner is still paying. Insurance, liability, staff, the GC, everyone. Time is money.
The owner’s rep holds the triangle together. That means maintaining good relationships across all three sides: not just with the GC, but with the design team, the lender, and the municipal agencies who can slow everything down if you’re not in front of them.
When it works, it’s one of the most satisfying dynamics in the business.
