Equestrian Estates

Equestrian Estates is a 94.22 acre residential development which was developed in four phases. All land development was completed in the Fall of 2012. Stephen Gunn overcame substantial land development obstacles by implementing the following procedures:

• He inherited a development which required an additional $1.2 million in funding to correct prior development errors and cost overruns.
• He inherited a development under county citation to remove 116,000 cu. yds. of non-usable fill materials which were stockpiled in 5 locations. He solved this problem by revising the grading plan. His team developed multiple lot extensions and created landscape beauty berms which resulted in all 116,000 cu. yds. being used on site for a cost savings of $1,160,000 for the owner.  
• The final grading plan required structural fill placement to close 5 sediment traps and complete 13 building pads, which required 35,000 cu. yds. of structural fill material. He revised the site plan to clear additional acreage and mined the required structural fill materials on site. The savings for the owner was $350,000.
• He inherited existing site development contracts that exceeded development budgets. These contracts did not conform to the approved county plans and specifications. The contractors were replaced. The new contractors completed the land development adhering to approved plans and specifications.  
• He completely redesigned the 1 mile long hiker/biker and trail system for Equestrian Estates. The original plan was designed with 90% of the trail system located in the flood plain and required 5 structural bridges for active stream crossings. The two additional detailed Site Plan revisions he directed generated $270,000 in cost reductions for the owner. Stephen Gunn’s vision and perseverance won the 2010 Land Development Environmental Award from the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association.

Piscataway Landing

Piscataway Landing is a 297.43 acre estate lot development planned for 112 one and two acre residential home sites. It is under active land development with three of the planned six phases finished with 33 estate residences sold and 2 additional residences under construction.

In 2007, Piscataway Landing was engineered and permitted as a single phased development. Permits were issued with posted surety guarantee bonds. The market and project ownership was changing. Stephen Gunn recommended that the project be put on hold, that the security bonds be returned, and that the permit fees tendered be allowed to be transferred to future development permits. This came to fruition.

A vigorous engineering review was then implemented, which resulted in the 297.43 acres being sub divided into six manageable and self-contained phases. This allowed for smaller financing obligations and insulated the owner from market fluctuations.

Grading requirements became a critical factor in completing both Phase 2 and Phase 3 in order to maintain costs within the existing loan development budgets. The lack of acceptable onsite structural fill materials created dirt shortfalls of 51,828 cu. yds. in Phase 2 and 72,689 cu. yds. in Phase 3.

Stephen Gunn accomplished the following:

• He secured eight different free dirt sources for importing 124,517 cu. yds. of the structural fill material.
• This required 12,452 tandem dump trucks for the time period of October, 2012 to October, 2014.
• This “free dirt” saved the developer $622,600 in what would have been justifiable change orders to furnish, import and place the required structural fill materials.
• This would have added an additional $21,500 to each lot improvement cost in Phase 2 and Phase 3 and would have required refinancing the development.

 The following ensued under the direction of Stephen Gunn:

• The WSSC SEP permits were preserved and a 1.25 mile sewer outfall was undertaken and successfully completed in 2008.
• The first of the six planned phases commenced in 2010 with 16 estate home sites. Phase 2 followed with 15 estate home sites in 2012. Phase 3 followed with 14 home sites in 2014.
• Piscataway Landing was held to annual MDE and EPA regulatory inspections.
• The development passed every state and federal inspection review each year; no citations of violations or fines were ever issued on his watch.

Westphalia Row

Westphalia Row is a 21.14 acre M-X-T Mixed Use development which is currently approved for 169 Twenty Foot Wide Rear Loaded Townhouses, 31 Twenty-Four Foot Wide Front Loaded Townhouses, 250 Multi Family Apartments in five story structures, 40,000 Square Feet of Combined Retail and Commercial Spaces, and a Five-Story Structured Parking Garage to serve apartments and the commercial properties.

Stephen Gunn was responsible for the management and development of Westphalia Row through the entitlement process and rigorous engineering and planning. He directed the grading plan revisions which eliminated 200,000 cubic yards of surplus soils that would have been generated during the rough grading operations. 

The master plan was divided into seven phases. Items 1-5 were completed under his management and Item 6 is actively underway. 

1. Infrastructure and storm water management facilities.
2. Phase 1A of 39 twenty foot wide townhouse units were developed and sold to Richmond American Homes.
3. Phase 1B of 30 twenty foot wide townhouse units were developed and constructed by Haverford Homes.
4. Phase 1C is divided into two sections: 31 twenty-four foot wide townhouse units developed and sold to Dan Ryan Builders, and 39 twenty foot wide townhouse units developed and constructed by Haverford Homes.
5. Phase 1D has 14 twenty foot wide townhouse units developed and constructed by Haverford Homes.
6. Phase 2 is 55 twenty foot wide townhouse units currently under development and planned for Haverford Homes.
7. Phase 3 is multifamily apartments and the retail commercial spaces. Given current economic conditions, it is anticipated that this present scheme will be revisited for multifamily building as well as marketability of retail and commercial spaces and offices.

Stephen prepared the detailed financial analyses plan for development loan submissions. He negotiated, authored, and closed on all of the development contracts. He directed and supervised the daily site improvement activities while documenting the progress with large format digital photography.

Due to complicated permitting requirements and financial market contractions, development activity was forced into winter conditions. This presented diverse challenges with moisture content and freeze-thaw cycles which chalenged grading and underground utility operations. In spite of these issues, development costs were contained within the approved development loan amounts.

Obstacles and Cost savings:

• Winter conditions necessitated the importing of 2,998 tandem truckloads of dry structural fill materials to continue with the Phase 2 grading operations.
• Beginning June 2014 and continuing into November 2014, approximately 30,000 cubic yards of suitable fill materials were delivered to the development site and placed into a large stockpile at no cost to the developer/owner with a savings of $195,000.
• Stephen Gunn was responsible for the removal of county required under-drainage systems behind the curb and gutter in Phase 2 and Phase 1D. A review of prior soil boring logs with soil classification descriptions produced a revised geotechnical report that supported Stephen’s position. This was a direct savings to the owner of $81,000.
• Stephen Gunn befriended a competitor’s sales manager who had sold 35 of their 39 townhouses in a matter of months. He encouraged him to join Haverford Homes at Westphalia Row. This extraordinary salesman successfully sold 80 of Haverford’s 83 townhouses plus two additional units in Phase 2. This great achievement saved the owner countless dollars in lost revenue with a lessor talent.