Building Operating Infrastructure
Client: Many Mansions
Service Area: Advisory, Capacity Building, Board Governance, Pipeline Management, Development Strategy
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7 months
Capacity-Building Engagement
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6 weeks
Organizational Audit Before Rollout
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9
Customized Staff Workshops
The Challenge
As Many Mansions' development work grew more complex, the organization needed stronger internal systems to support project delivery, risk management, financial oversight, staff coordination, and board communication.
Furthermore, Many Mansions faced a prolonged leadership gap, with its Chief Real Estate Officer (CREO) position vacant for over a year. This absence created both operational strain, particularly as Many Mansions managed an active development pipeline with several complicated developments in the middle of a geographic expansion. It also had over ten acquisition opportunities which it had to critically vet and underwrite. Critical decision-making, project oversight, and long-term planning responsibilities that would typically reside with the CREO were either diffused and distributed across staff with varying levels of experience, increasing potential for execution risk and limiting its progress.
Our Approach
An organizational lens on a project-level challenge
CTY brought a capacity-building perspective to an engagement that might have stayed narrowly focused on project support. Rather than addressing immediate risks in isolation, CTY diagnosed the operating systems behind the work and translated project-level challenges into organizational tools — trainings, templates, governance structures, and processes — that staff, executives, and board members could continue using after the engagement ended.
Deliverables
Organizational audit report
9 customized staff training workshops
One-on-one staff support and project check-in structure
Project review memos, RFP response template, reporting templates
Checklists to standardize operations
CDLAC and HCD funding application reviews
Financial gap and schedule exposure review for two at-risk projects
Pipeline strategy recommendations
The Result
Organizational Audit
CTY began with a six-week organizational audit, mapping how staff communicated, how project information was stored, how risks were surfaced, how schedules and financial issues were tracked, and how decisions moved from staff to leadership and board review.
Staff Training Workshops
CTY facilitated 9 targeted workshops strengthening core organizational competencies, including real estate development risks, assembling funding applications, reviewing funding sources, negotiating ground lease terms, perm conversion, and underwriting a development proforma.
Project Management Tools & Templates
CTY created a suite of practical tools — project review memos, RFP response templates, reporting templates, and checklists — enabling staff to standardize their workflows.
Funding Strategy
CTY conducted rigorous reviews of multiple funding applications (CDLAC and HCD), providing feedback to improve competitiveness. CTY also facilitated a discussion on funding available for affordable housing across Ventura County and its impact on their development pipeline.
Real Estate Development Advisory
CTY worked alongside executive leadership as a thought partner to assess the development department's structure and provide recommendations tied to pipeline strategy, staffing, project oversight, and organizational resilience — helping leadership think through complex hurdles while also building capacity that could scale.
“Bringing in CTY was an outstanding experience. The firm’s expertise was key in building capacity with our team of real estate developers. The firm is highly recommended to any real estate team seeking knowledgeable, proactive, and results-driven project management support. They didn’t just advise us; they became a proactive and integrated part of our team, offering solutions and anticipating potential issues before they could escalate.”