Successful real estate developers and development attorneys must effectively anticipate and manage risk. Managing visible and known risks seems simple; what separates the great from the good is the ability to anticipate, plan for, and develop contingencies for unknown risk scenarios. Failure to account for these risks can be catastrophic. Hurricanes Harvey and Katrina unveiled the stark consequences of the failure to adequately plan for catastrophic events, showcasing chemical-plant explosions, flooded buildings, and lost real estate assets. Extreme weather conditions are increasing in severity and frequency, and oceans are rising, so resilient real estate developers must adapt and engineer buildings and site configurations that are sustainable under changing climatic conditions.
Kevin Murray is an environmental partner at Holland & Hart focusing on property remediation and site repurposing. He is also an adjunct professor of 30 years at the University of Utah and Brigham Young University in real estate development, transactions, and finance.
The full ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Trends, March/April 2020 article may be read here: Developing sites for sea-level-rise and climate-change resiliency.
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