Developer’s Risk and the Art of Flying

I think the media and the community at large should stop vilifying developers. That sort of behavior parallels calling all UT football payers thugs, which is ridiculous. (I recently met Inky Johnson, the former defensive back at Tennessee whose career was cut short by injury. If there is a more thoughtful, thankful, and caring individual in Knoxville, I do not know who it is.) In fact, developing real estate is a lot like playing football. There is the hard work, the cachet of the activity, the benefits, and just as real, are the risks – of injury or loss or failure.

Jump out of a 50 story window sometime. For 45 stories you might convince yourself you can fly. Certainly by the 5^th floor, you start to rethink your invulnerability, particularly if you made no plan for anything other than flying. Developers routinely take these types of financial risks. They hope and expect that that their plan “takes off and flies” just the way you hope your next putt goes in or your lottery ticket pays off. The difference is that in most endeavors the risk is known and limited. This is not always the case in real estate development. When a developer suffers loss or setback, it can be quite dramatic and public. And it can bring out the worst in people.

The truth is that most developers are really good people who support the community in a number of ways both publicly and privately. I have personally seen these folks delivering food at Christmas and teaching developmentally disabled children how to play softball, as well as many other selfless acts. So, I am a little discouraged when the community takes too much delight in the failures of real estate developers because they are perceived to be undeserving of their successes. There. I feel better now.