Work record / Development / Ritz-Carlton Laguna Beach
Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Beach: a patio built and a branded-residence advisory
I keep these two credits small on purpose. Tellus built a patio there. We did not build the Ritz-Carlton.
The seat
I worked in two seats through Tellus Design and Build, which I ran: builder on the patio and development advisor on the branded residences. Both sit inside the Tellus years, 2004 to 2022.
| Where | Laguna Beach, California |
|---|---|
| Years | Tellus era, 2004 to 2022 |
| Through | Tellus Design and Build |
| Credits | Common Ground Jesse Fowler, Builder and development advisor, through Tellus Design and Build |
What I was brought in to decide
These are two separate, narrow credits from the Tellus years, and both are mine. The first is construction, an outdoor patio at the Ritz-Carlton's Laguna Beach property in California. The second is advisory, on luxury branded residences that carry the Ritz-Carlton name.
What we did
- Tellus Design and Build built the outdoor patio at the Ritz-Carlton's Laguna Beach property, to the standard a luxury operator expects.
- Separately, I advised on development for luxury branded residences carrying the Ritz-Carlton name. The work centered on what a branded residential product asks of an operator who holds both the brand and the land.
- One approach runs through both. On any job that touches a client's real property, I ask whether the current use has been measured lately against its next-best use. A contractor is often the one party who sits in both the facilities meeting and the capital conversation. So I raise the bigger question once, with whoever has the authority to hear it, and then I finish the contracted work.
- Raising it has a cost, because a client who wanted a patio can take it as overreach. That is why I ask once, of the right seat, and then complete what I was hired to do. Two accurate, narrow credits beat one inflated credit. The firm built a patio for the hotel, not the hotel itself.
Results
- The outdoor patio at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Beach.
- Advisory on development for branded residences carrying the Ritz-Carlton name.
Stories from this work
Questions about Ritz-Carlton Laguna Beach, answered
Firm record
Common Ground keeps its own account of this engagement: Ritz-Carlton Laguna Beach on the Common Ground wiki.