Coby Lefkowitz is a developer who lives in NYC and is building in Southern California, with a deep interest in the human capacity to create beauty in the modern world. Geoff and Coby talk about real estate finance, why it matters, and how it shapes what gets built, as well as the connection between finance, community, human-scale, and beauty.
Links:
Coby’s guest post on Noahpinion: ”Why small developers are getting squeezed out of the housing market”: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-small-developers-are-getting
Coby on X: https://x.com/Cobylefko
Coby’s website: https://cobylefkowitz.com
Coby’s business: https://www.livebackyard.co
Coby’s interview on Building Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS_lbj60_cg&t=0s
Timestamps
0:00 – intro
2:47 – why does Coby live in NYC and develop in SoCal?
5:12 – what prompted the shift from small developers to industrial-scale builders
15:19 – 5-over-1s explanation
16:50 – snobbery and derision about new buildings
18:56 – construction costs have increased dramatically over the pandemic
20:11 – charting apartments that are 50+ units from 1970s to today, cities shaped by building codes
24:18 – the most regulated business in America
28:58 – sourcing local building materials and parts
34:23 – why local artisans’ work is a luxury thing now, diminishing numbers of local craftspeople
42:41 – the labor challenges of today, getting into craftwork today
46:49 – the real cost of living in a walkable community, car subsidies
50:38 – time preference in economics and building, stewardship, the pride imperative
1:00:47 – the little known complexities of real estate financialization
1:02:50 – defining small and other kinds of developers, selection process
1:09:53 – Geoff’s optimism about placemaking, experienced enthusiasm
1:12:12 – what brought Coby into building, why people are starting to care about their built environment
1:15:26 – post-war modernism, post-modernism
1:19:04 – high time preference style building, architecture schools, traditional architecture1:25:06 – conclusion and where you can find Coby
Yeoman 