As Richard S. Prows and Robert W. Wood reminisce about 40 years of doing business as Prowswood Corp., they contemplate successes, near misses and flat-out failures.
Unlike many development firms in the West that failed following the energy boom, Prowswood Corp. has persevered. Ask Prows and Wood why their business survived in an environment in which so many others failed, and they offer predictable answers.They've built good relationships with bankers. They've attempted to time the market appropriately. They've built projects with timeless designs and careful attention to land-scaping, the environment and location. They've diversified.
Daniel Lofgren, president of Prowswood Management Inc., attributes the company's success to Prows' and Wood's innovation. "Bob and Dick have been innovative. They've been willing to lead the pack," Lofgren said.
Prows, a self-taught designer, started the venture in 1953, when he and homebuilder George Daley teamed to design and build 300 homes in Bountiful.
In 1957, Prows bought out Daley. Wood, then vice president and an account executive at a Salt Lake advertising agency, joined the company, bringing with him finance and marketing talents. The company name was formed joining Prows' and Wood's names.
Beginning in the 1960s, the company built single-family home developments in Layton, Roy, Kaysville, Tooele and in Salt Lake County.
In 1963, Prowswood Corp. began development of Three Fountains condominiums in Murray, the first condominium project built in Utah after passage of the state's 1963 condominium law.
The project was a bit of an anomaly at the time but soon attracted single-parent families, widows and widowers. "We found the real attraction was to the empty-nester group," Prows said.
Since then, the Prowswood name has become almost synonymous with condominium development. The company has completed 14 condominium developments in Utah, totaling 2,469 units.
Prowswood has also developed nine apartment complexes with 3,075 units and participated in the development of 10 Utah retail and office projects from St. George to Ogden.
"Since the company was founded, our principal goal has simply been to develop quality real estate projects that we can be proud of, both the day they're finished as well as 25 or 50 years down the road," Prows said.
When Utah's real estate market fell flat in the late 1970s and early '80s, Prowswood slowed new construction and development (after a couple project failures in Colorado and California) and moved further into property manage-ment.
Wood said he believes the company's saving grace has been its ability to diversify. "This company started out building very small, flat-top houses, and we've evolved into much nicer single-family homes, commercial complexes," Wood said.
In 1987, The Prowswood Corp. restructured and Prowswood Management Inc. was formed. The Prowswood Corp. is a real estate holding company for projects developed or purchased by the firm. New development projects and other businesses are overseen by Prowswood Management Inc., which is owned by The Prowswood Corp. and Lofgren.
Prowswood Management has three Utah projects under way, a 52-unit apartment complex in St. George, a large office medical office building at Holy Cross Jordan Valley Hospital in West Jordanand plans for a 180-acre apartment complex in southeast Salt Lake County.
Prowswood recently was awarded a commission from the city of Richland, Wash., to develop a $75 million master-planned residential and commercial community called Columbia Point.
Prowswood was chosen among 200 competitors and will serve as master developer of the project.
"This one development could be as important to the future of Prowswood as Three Fountains was to the company back in the mid-'60s," Prows said.
In awarding the commission, the city of Richland subjected Prowswood Management to intense scrutiny from reviewing its banking practices to conducting several site visits of Prowswood's Utah developments.
"They needed to convince themselves we were the right people," Lofgren said.
Richland is part of the tri-city area, which has an average household income of $48,000 a year and claims more advanced degrees and engineers per capita than nearly anywhere else in the United States.
Located at the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and adjacent to Interstate 182, plans for Columbia Point include a redesigned golf course, a 144-unit apartment complex, condominiums and townhouses, a retail center, commercial projects including a hotel, restaurant and office building, emphasis on green space and renovation of an existing marina and planned development of a community cultural center.
"It's so incredibly high profile that they can't afford to make a mistake. We came through that scrutiny with such flying colors that we moved very quickly to the contract stage," Lofgren said.
Does the Washington state project portend more out-of-state projects for Prowswood Management? "On an opportunity driven basis," Lofgren said. "Let's just say I'm not scouring the suburbs of Denver to do a development."
Wood said he believes the companies will follow the same basic principles during its next 40 years that helped Prowswood survive the first four decades.
"You have to pay attention to so many areas," Wood said. "You constantly must be aware of economy of the community where you're building and doing business. Sounds a lot like Business 101, doesnt' it?"