Diamond in the rough

Visualizing the future with Carlson Takeoff

It wasn’t so difficult for the J. Read Corporation, to look at 380 acres of distressed property at an abandoned stone quarry and envision a world-class residential and golfing community, after all, that’s what they do. Based in Hingham, Mass., J. Read specializes in strategic site development and engineering and permitting services. Mostly they do it for clients, but this time it was their own project.

It was quite hard, however, for many of the potential buyers at Black Rock – also in Hingham, Boston’s desirable South Shore area – to look at barren rock piles and muddy swamps and then plunk down $1-million-plus for a home just on the promise that it would one day be rolling hills and lush greenery overlooking a world-class golf course.

That’s when Dan Moeller, project manager at J. Read, put the newly acquired Carlson Takeoff to even more use.

Noting that most people can’t look at a “big open mess” or even a plan and envision a finished product, Moeller said, “Developers spend a lot of money on a scale model or 2D rendering to give an idea of what it will look like when it’s finished.”

Just going a few steps further with the powerful software, Moeller was able to use it as a marketing tool and actually bring the customers through the to-be-developed gated community, showing them how the roadways would go, the land would be moved and houses built, plus where landscaping would make a difference, and, of course, where the golf course would be.

“We were able to put the rendition of the project up on a big plasma screen and draw in 3D houses, rock retaining walls, and roads and trees and actually drive them right through it,” said Moeller.

Traditional usage

First released in 2004, Carlson Takeoff is quickly being recognized as the most dynamic site estimating software on the market with its powerful AutoCAD engine, comprehen-sive features, and output capabilities to survey equipment and 3D machine control.

While J. Read Corporation has used Carlson Takeoff for bidding at least 15 to 20 projects over the last year, they have also used it for reevaluating existing projects – even “rebalancing” a later phase of a development and helping to save the contractors several hundreds of thousands of dollars by adjusting to grade to minimize cut and fill.

“It’s a valuable tool,” said Moeller. “While you have to know how to properly use it, it makes everything much quicker and more efficient. Plus, it’s pretty critical that the numbers be right for us,” he added, saying that he double-checks often and has never been disappointed by Takeoff.

“What I really like,” he said, “is that everything is done in a CAD-based format so it stays in a standard file format that other people can use. I would certainly recommend it to anybody.” Even if they only want to use it for accurate site estimating and not, like Moeller, 3D movies.

Learn more about Dan's Presentation Services at landevaluations.com

 Click here to return to July/August Newsletter.