Overview
Company
- Real estate development firm: Switchgrass Capital, based in downtown Edmond, Oklahoma.
- Lean team developing and managing $100 million of construction projects across seven properties.
Challenges
- Limited resources and high project volume.
- Complex financial structures for concurrent deals.
- Results-oriented approach demanding meticulous financial planning.
Background
Switchgrass Capital is a real estate development firm specializing in residential development in downtown Edmond, Oklahoma. Their strategy involves disciplined acquisition, value-add processes, and customer-centric development. With a lean team and over $100 million currently under construction, the team's success in financial modeling becomes critical for sustaining profitable ventures in their dynamic and growing market. They collaborate with financial partners, including private equity investors, traditional banks, and opportunity zone lenders.
U-Rite's invaluable guidance and expertise not only helped me secure key financial partnership, but also safeguarded my credibility in complex modeling scenarios where my limitations could have been detrimental.
Switchgrass employs a conservative underwriting process, maintaining a strong equity position to sustain projects through changing market conditions. Their value-add approach includes capital investments, upgrades, and improved management to enhance asset value. The founder, Matthew Myers, has a background in private equity and prioritizes long-term value enhancement, risk mitigation, and transparent communication with stakeholders.
Matthew and his team at Switchgrass are actively pursuing investment opportunities in real estate, specifically targeting assets in opportunity zones. Their financial focus is geared towards sustainable and profitable ventures within the real estate sector.
Challenges
1. Limited Time Resources and High Project Volume – Switchgrass Capital operates with a lean team, a factor that poses a significant challenge when tasked with overseeing multiple large-scale projects simultaneously. The demand for efficient project management and strategic decision-making can overwhelm the team's capacity to develop and maintain detailed financial models for each property.
2. Complex Financial Structures for Concurrent Deals – Switchgrass Capital employs a sophisticated financing strategy that involves a mix of private equity, opportunity zone credits, and traditional financing. The complexity of these financial structures introduces challenges in accurately modeling and forecasting the intricate interplay of funds, returns, and risk across multiple concurrent deals.
3. Results-Oriented Approach – Switchgrass Capital is driven by a results-oriented mindset, seeking not just efficient project execution but also profitability in their real estate ventures. Achieving these goals requires meticulous financial planning and forecasting to align with their overarching objectives.
How U-Rite Solved Those Challenges
Switchgrass Capital gains significant advantages by entrusting U-Rite with their financial modeling needs, a sentiment echoed by Matthew from Switchgrass.
"U-Rite's solution is a time-saving game-changer for us. With their efficient and adaptable models, we can build what would have taken our internal team five times longer to complete."
This efficiency, combined with U-Rite's dynamic modeling approach, prevents costly mistakes and accelerates Switchgrass Capital's financial model-building process significantly. In the face of a changing market environment, Switchgrass Capital values U-Rite's cost-effective approach and risk reduction, allowing them to focus on crucial aspects of their development projects.
As Matthew highlights, "Their cost-effective approach and risk reduction have allowed us to focus on crucial aspects of our development projects, ensuring success in a changing market environment." The dynamic nature of U-Rite's models empowers anyone on the Switchgrass Capital team to make small changes to numbers and test various scenarios easily, enhancing flexibility and facilitating quick decision-making.
U-Rite's institutional training and user-friendly software combine to provide a comprehensive solution that not only saves time but also promotes collaborative and informed financial planning at Switchgrass Capital.