Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values

It was 2014, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Knightsbridge Custom Homes Limited (Knightsbridge) had just purchased a site for his next project in the rapidly gentrifying East Village neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta. He had built Knightsbridge on a commitment to three core values: finding great locations, catering to underserved markets, and providing niche products. Since it's founding in 1990, these values had remained the same, but the type of projects undertaken by Knightsbridge had changed dramatically. The company started by building infill homes in inner-city Calgary and estate homes on the city’s outskirts. Then it built multi-family homes in the suburbs and tackled a transit-oriented development in an established area. Now, the CEO was considering developing a no parking, high-rise condominium tower close to the downtown core. High-rise living without parking would be an entirely new concept in car-centric Calgary. Was developing a residential site without parking a viable plan in this growing city? Knightsbridge’s CEO needed to find an effective way to answer this question.

This case can be used in an undergraduate course on real estate development, strategy, or marketing. The case and its discussion are intended to help students better understand the environment in which real estate development occurs, how different factors shape city building, and the complexity of development decisions. The case gives students an opportunity to do the following:<ul><li>Understand how external factors beyond developers’ control may influence internal decision making.</li><li>Apply traditional economic location theories to evaluate a CEO's decision to purchase a lot in Calgary’s East Village neighbourhood and to offer a condo complex without parking.</li><li>Use the 4Ps of marketing—price, product, promotion, and place—and their own personal experience to envision the target consumer for a condo complex without parking.</li><li>Create a comprehensive analysis to advise a CEO on the viability of a development project.</li></ul>

• Real Estate Development, Strategic planning, Residential Development, High Rise Condo, Municipal Planning, Area redevelopment