The BYU construction management team took first place at the National Home Builder's Contest in Las Vegas in January.

Groups from 39 schools presented plans for a large-scale development in San Antonio Texas at the competition sponsored by Centex Homes.

The members of the project were construction management majors including Jonathan Hastings, Russ Van Wagenen, Cody Allen, Cody Andreasen, Joseph Layne and Chris Leavitt. The team reported working more than a thousand hours on the project.

"We had good chemistry and worked really well together," said Hastings, one of the team leaders from Houston, Texas. "We spent a lot of time working on the project, so getting along well was critical for it to be successful."

The students started work on the project in October and spent three months developing a proposal, including details about marketing, operations and finance. The final plan was about 250 pages long.

Three of the students traveled to the construction site in San Antonio.

"It was critical to actually go to the project and talk to the managers so that we could see their challenges and know what to do to prevent those problems from arising," Hastings said.

Students said one of the biggest difficulties that developers face with the town home market is that the floor plans are very rigid. To minimize the problem, the students decided to interchange the floor plans within the building.

"We wanted to be flexible during the design process in order to meet the needs of different home buyers," Hastings said. "It was one of the big things that was different from other school's proposals."

A large portion of the proposal related to marketing.

"We felt that marketing was the most important section this year with the current economy for new homes," said Van Wagenen, a student leader from Eagle, Idaho. "The success of the project really depends on how well you can market the community."

The students presented their plan to a panel of judges made up of Centex management members in Las Vegas.

"We knew the presentation so well it was beyond memorization," Van Wagenen said. "We were sleeping and eating our presentation."

The students said they enjoyed the opportunity to work on the project.

"The competition allows for real life experience," Hastings said. "While you may do bits and pieces of it in class, you don't have the opportunity to put it all together."



Copyright Brigham Young University 2 Feb 2009