Honesty, respect and transparency are critical to successful business practice, but team building and a level-headed approach to problem solving are also key ingredients to complete a major development project. Staying focused and quickly resolving critical issues with all parties involved keeps the project moving through schedule milestones toward project completion.
Real estate development is expensive, complex and filled with hurdles during all phases of a project's life cycle. Working together under experienced leadership is essential because surprises always happen, especially during construction,
and that’s when team work really prevails.
APPROACH
H. Michael Schwartzman
PRINCIPAL
DevelUp Inc.
Drawing on decades of diversified commercial real estate experience, including design, construction, banking and development, Michael founded DevelUp Inc. in 2018 to assist property owners navigate the myriad of tasks required to implement ground-up and major renovation projects from concept through completion.
Michael has completed large scale mixed-use projects, high-rise and low-rise residential buildings, office buildings, and retail projects comprising over 4,500 residential units and $1.5B in total asset value. His portfolio encompasses mixed-use projects that combine retail, office and residential; Type I, III and V multifamily - rental and condo; commercial office and retail; modular construction and luxury single family homes.
For three years before starting DevelUp Inc., Michael was Vice President of Development at CityView and oversaw all new multifamily and mixed-use development projects throughout California and Denver. From 2011 to 2015, he worked for CIM Group as Vice President, Development, running mixed-use development projects in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Chicago, and other US cities. During 2011, he represented office tenants throughout the Washington, DC region at Grubb & Ellis as a commercial realtor. Michael worked from 2004 to 2010 at Maryland based ROSS Development & Investment as Vice President & Director of Development. From 2001 to 2004, he was Director of Development at Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT). Prior to WRIT, Michael was a Development Manager for the Kaempfer Company and a REIT Analyst for the investment bank, FBR & Co., Inc. Michael also ran his own design/build company, HMS Designs, for five years where he specialized in luxury residential design and construction management.
Michael is a licensed architect in the State of Maryland. He earned a Bachelor and a Master of Architecture from Tulane University and a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance from Johns Hopkins University. He has served as a judge for industry award programs and he has lectured for ULI, NAIOP and BizNow. Michael also enjoys working with real estate students at UCLA and USC.