The Overlook at Hunter's Mill

The Overlook at Hunter's Mill is a 39.27-acre development in Fort Washington, Maryland. It's 47 quarter-acre, home sites are being developed in three phases. Partial land development commenced in 2006 but was halted during the economic downturn in the housing industry in 2007 - 2014. It is projected that estimated sales revenues will exceed $23+ million at completion based upon current sales pricing. 

Salient Solutions was retained by Caruso Homes to analyze the present and future potential of this development. Stephen Gunn determined that to reduce development costs substantial modifications were required to correct design and specification deficiencies. 

The following measures were identified and instituted:

• 38,000 cubic yards of surplus soils needed to be removed from the site under the existing grading plans. The original grading plans retained an added cost of $570,000 to load, truck, and dispose of 3,800 tandem dump trucks of earth. This oversight added $12,000 of development costs to each of the 47 lots. Stephen Gunn directed the engineering drawings to be modified to achieve a balanced site.  
• The partially installed Phase 1 water and sewer services were not in compliance with current WSSC design guidelines. This incurred substantial delays while a required new hydraulic study located and confirmed appropriate water service supplies and connections. 
• The original Phase 1 Storm Drain System was installed without approved plans and as-built drawings, which are required for permit and bond releases. 
• The original the site development pipe, fittings, sewer and storm drain structures were ordered in 2006. They remained on site without certifications for use and installation for ten years. Salient Solutions researched resources and used their experts to validate the use of these existing materials. This resulted in a cost savings to Caruso Homes of $80,000.
• Phase 1 paving sections were not 100% complete. This required field adjustments to bring them into County compliance. 
• Originally a $1.3 million Con-Span, bottomless, arch bridge system was designed for access to the third Phase of 19 lots. This added an additional $68,000 to lot development costs. A box culvert system was substituted to reduce costs.
• Stephen Gunn substituted the County required under drain systems for a cost reduction of $115,090 to Caruso Homes. A substitution for curb and gutters to an out-of-state specialty contractor resulted in an additional cost savings of $29,440 for the developer. 
• Stephen Gunn instituted extensive revisions to the sediment control systems to bring the site into MDE compliance. MDE confirmed in the fall of 2016 that the site complied with their regulations.