A lot of developer friends ask how we design and build beautiful buildings with budgets that beat far less attractive projects. There are many levers. But most deals quietly die in one place: Structure. Here are some pro tips, particularly for multifamily podium design: Column grid Keep it tight: 24–28 ft max. Go wider and you trigger thicker PT slabs, drop panels, punching shear steel, and endless MEP conflicts. The last one might be the most painful, but the first two are the most expensive. Load path Never shift columns between floors. Transfers = heavier structure, more rebar, slower schedules, real money burned. Don’t approve a schematic design layout before this is flushed out. Slabs & soils Bad soils force thicker slabs, mats, piles. Foundation costs can jump 2–3×. Choose sites carefully. Get good soils. Expansive soils? We’re out. MEPs Stack wet walls. Have dedicated plumbing walls with no structural value. Lock sleeves early. Another killer: Bathrooms over columns or even electrical rooms. Late MEP coordination are how “on-budget” jobs blow up in the field. Shear & hold-downs Maintain continuous exterior wall zones (~12–16”) from podium to roof. Clean load paths = less steel, simpler inspections, better seismic performance. Wood framing Align shear walls with column grids. Misalignment adds transfer forces and structural weight you don’t get paid for. Again, don’t even go past schematic phase until this is sorted out. Only exception. Facade area. Cost effective constructions isn’t about cheap finishes. They’re about disciplined structure, driven by architectural design logic. Get this right, you’re half way there. Get it wrong, no amount of value engineering will save you.

Rendering vs Reality. Delivered under $300/ft on rentable. 4 levels of resi over parking with floor to glass glazing and stylish interiors. I think reality beat the render!

84 affordable housing units. Seven floors. Delivered under $165,000 per unit in Los Angeles! A developer friend came to us looking for a new general contractor to partner with on his workforce housing project. The brief was simple: deliver real quality at a cost that actually pencils. We did — bringing all 84 units in at a hard cost under $165k each, well below market for a project of this kind (5 levels of Type III over 2 levels of Type I). That’s the role our GC arm, Category Construction, plays. We partner with a select group of developers serious about affordable and workforce housing, and we treat their budgets and timelines like our own. As a vertically integrated platform, we bring construction with in-house trade execution, design, and an owner-operator’s perspective to every project — so the numbers work in the field, not just on paper. Feel free to give me a shout if you have a project seeking a killer GC partner that can get the job done. ✅

Spencer Pratt

Our latest delivery in West LA. Apartments with banger views, both inside and out.

Absurd. This has also been a requirement for new apartment buildings in the City of LA. Another example of tacit permission for lawbreaking—paid for by the law-abiding.

People are leaving LA faster than DWP can provide power to the housing we build for them.

The symphony continues. Starting to see the music. Feat. Slauson by Category

The part no one sees. Night pours. Tight windows. Crews executing with precision under the Saturday night lights.

Category enters Charleston’s upper peninsula with its latest acquisition, making way for a spectacular mixed use project footsteps from the Lowcountry Lowline.

A breathtaking essay by @alananewhouse. People everywhere feel it: a quiet loss of rooted identity — of belonging to a people, a history, a place. In trying to strip us of our differences, we stripped the world of the very civilizational diversity that made it beautiful. A healthy world isn’t one where differences disappear — it’s one where every nation is free to cherish its own. A must read. tabletmag.com/feature/zionis…

My favorite symphony Category GC conducting

the next big trend is the real world digital fasts, live events, community, in person hangouts, real conversations, building shit, surfing, camping, dinner parties it's time we return to what really matters

God bless America and its heroic warfighters.

Co-sign. Every. Word.