Sixteen years ago, Mitch Kidd and Scott Lumby arrived in the U.S. from Australia in search of opportunities in the commercial real estate industry. Today, as the co-founders and co-owners of Stamford-based WellBuilt Co., they are among the most prominent leaders in the local real estate development scene.
In this Suite Talk installment, Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall spoke with Kidd and Lumby about their journey from Down Under to the Connecticut Gold Coast.
How did the two of you get into business together?
Kidd: We started doing business together back in our first year of university at New South Wales University in Sydney, Australia. We played rugby against each other in high school, but it wasn’t until our first year at university when we had a joint academic and sports scholarship together where we met each other, studying the same courses and ending up working at the same company together for several years before moving abroad and finding ourselves in the U.S. in 2006.
We started out in a construction career out in Aspen, Colorado, where we were working for a luxury builder developer outfit doing luxury mountain homes of 20,000- to 30,000-square-foot mountain homes. On the back of the financial crisis leading into 2009, I had an opportunity to come out to New York City to do some private projects for some clients. It was at that point that we formed WellBuilt Co. and went out on our own.
It started off as a high-end renovation company in residential apartments in New York City, and then we branched out into commercial and retail projects. In 2013, we opened an office in Connecticut, where we’re primarily established now.
What projects are you currently working on?
Kidd: Our main focus at the moment is in the development sector, where we’ve just finished off The Stillwater, one of our first multifamily projects in Stamford ”” it was our own project, financed, built, developed and operated by ourselves as a sole operator. It’s a 45-unit, multifamily building just near the new Stamford Hospital.
We have several other developments in the pipeline at various stages of planning and designing and site acquisitions. Just down the road from Stillwater, we have our next project called The Lafayette Stamford, a 130-unit building that’s currently just going through some final zoning approvals with the city. We’re looking to commence that one Q1, start of Q2. That is a mixed-use multifamily development in a nice side of Stamford.
Lumby: Another site that we”™re working on is a downtown city-owned parcel right next door to Curley’s Diner. We’re very excited to put that online, although it will most likely be in 2023. It was a long acquisition period to get that site under our control ”” it took us 18 months to go through all the different approvals along the way.
How do you approach to your work?
Lumby: We like to see ourselves as being very disciplined about how we evaluate opportunities. It is something that we’re very passionate about and we have a lot of fun doing it.
We put a good team of people together that we hold to a very high standard ”” our motto is “Do what you say you’re going to do and execute on that.” And that goes for consultants to financing to subcontractors ”” it’s a pretty easy thing to do, but a lot of people don’t get it right. The people that we associate and engage with to put these projects together have been great and it’s all part of the fun as we go through and put these different deals online.
The construction industry has been impacted by supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. How have these issues impacted your work?
Kidd: We were able to build The Stillwater during the Covid period in 13 months, from excavation to completion. We did have to overcome a lot of lead-time issues, but I think that’s a testament to our hands-on approach where we’re very involved in the day-to-day operations.
We were fortunate with some of the price escalations. You”™ve heard of lumber and pipe and PVC pipe ”” and just a lot of miscellaneous items ”” had 30% and 40% increases, but we were able to mitigate that by locking in prices very early.
Are you planning to do new projects outside of Fairfield County?
Lumby: We’re always looking at different markets. I think, ultimately, we will be expanding into other Northeast-based markets.
