Today we chatted with Alyssa, Director on the Mid/High Rise Land Development team at Marlin Spring Developments to learn about her unique role and how she and her team collaborate with other teams to ensure the company is building and delivering the best product to market. Read the interview below to get to know Alyssa and learn more about her achievements and aspirations.

Hi Alyssa! Talk to us about your role and your team. What are you responsible for and how do you collaborate with other teams? What do you enjoy most about your role?

I am a Director on the Mid/High Rise Land Development Team at Marlin Spring Developments. We have a pretty special role in this machine in that we are involved in every aspect of the project lifecycle from acquisition, all the way through to project completion. We typically acquire land that is designated as Employment or Industrial and so our team comes in to “entitle” the land, which is required before we can build residential / mixed use.  This process can take a couple of years and typically involves working with a team of experts and consultants to rezone the land and obtain necessary approvals from the City and other government agencies. We bring value to the land, so I guess you could say we are pretty important! This also means we work closely with the other functional teams on a daily basis, and have a good handle on the general health and status of a project on any given day. We work particularly close with the construction team when the project is transitioning from land development to the start of developing construction documents. From there we oversee all the permitting and other approvals needed through the construction process to project completion.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I love that every day is different. I can be pulled in 10 different directions in any given day and it will almost never be the same direction I was pulled the day before. Working so closely with the City and the red tape we encounter daily can be wearing, and I have an enormous amount of respect for our team for showing up each day ready to take that on with determination and resolve. They are the best.

Can you share a memorable achievement or project?

For me, coming off mat leave and starting at the company in a leadership role was a big achievement. I felt like a fish out of water for the first little while after being knee deep in diapers and rattles for the previous 18 months.  I had a lot of experience to fall back on but when you’re off for a little while you feel as though you’ve missed a lot (especially in this industry where the policy environment is evolving rapidly) and that can be overwhelming.  I surprised myself at how quickly I was able to get back on the proverbial development bike, and continue riding.

What are you most excited to work on in the coming months?

We just settled with the City on a new project that will include some affordable housing units. I’m excited to figure out who we are going to partner with on that, and how we are going to deliver those to the people that need it.