Hybrid Firms Help Expanding Builders

Two Florida firms, Land Solutions and Development Solutions, might be a harbinger of things to come in many housing markets as national builders continue to expand.

Randy Thibaut, a former division president in southwest Florida for Beazer Homes USA, formed Land Solutions three years ago to go beyond land brokerage and provide, at a fixed cost, more of the services national builders need to get started in a market (in this case, Lee and Charlotte counties, which form the Fort Myers market).

"We're a one-stop shop," executive vice president Bob Whitten says, "doing all the things a national builder would ordinarily have to hire an army of people to do - from finding sites to feasibility studies, environmental impact studies and the full entitlements process.

"Land Solutions was formed to take builders all the way to actual development work. But we have some clients who don't want to develop land, so we formed Development Solutions to fill in that piece of the puzzle. Now we can take a builder expanding into this market from land acquisition to finished lots, ready for building."

As a former Beazer executive, Thibaut knows what national builders need. As a local market expert, he knows all the players, including landowners and government officials. To learn more, visit www.landsolutions.net.