Scott Gale is a Partner with Bluestone Communities and is responsible for acquisitions, asset management, and marketing of real estate development projects in Nevada and select markets of California.

Prior to joining Bluestone, Scott served as Vice President of Land Acquisitions at Shea Homes Inland Empire, where he was responsible for all aspects of land acquisition, including strategic planning, financial analysis, due diligence, contract negotiations, and transaction closings. During his time at Shea, he acquired more than 2,600 lots totaling more than $250,000,000 in land residual value.

Before Shea Homes, he was a project manager for Woodside Homes, where he managed nine residential communities throughout the Inland Empire. Scott was responsible for coordinating consultant efforts, obtaining necessary approvals from various municipalities and agencies, and managing project schedules, budgets, and contractor/consultant contracts.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. He also earned an MBA and Master of Real Estate Development degrees from the University of Southern California. Gale has been married for 14 years and has two growing, active sons.

Bluestone concentrates mostly in land development and entitlement; in a typical year, they would be entitling 1,000-1,500 lots, but since the market began its downturn, things have been much slower. Timing is everything in real estate, and unfortunately, Gale joined the firm in May of 2006, just as the market headed south.

In a situation that is familiar to all in this industry, the housing crisis has killed business in his area (Southern California) and he doesn’t anticipate much new entitlement business for several years; last year, they purchased about 400 lots from one national builder and only have one deal on the books at this point.

To decrease expenses, they have cut office space, moving the 5-person firm to an older building and have subleased space for about 1/3 of what they were spending on rent previously. As a result of the lending freeze, working with lenders has been difficult. "One lender was unwilling to extend credit and took back the property. Now we’re working with another lender on another project who seems to be more receptive to what we are doing and our vision."

While the housing market may still see a decline, Gale believes that the Inland Empire (Riverside/San Bernardino Counties) in California still provides the greatest opportunities due to the volume of distressed and discounted properties. But, an investor will need to be able to park their money for 5-10 years to make significant returns. While there are Wall St. investors who have indicated an interest in funding projects, most are not doing anything until they see a clear direction with the economy and the financial markets.

As far as the government bailout is concerned, "Other than kick-starting lending, I want the government to get out of the way. Banks should just get rid of their bad loans rather than use the government bailout," says Gale.

At this point, the greatest challenge for Gale has been to stay motivated and realize that while the time spent on normal tasks is necessary, it won’t bear much fruit in the near future. "The current crisis has given me more time to spend with family and I’m also writing a book about parenting."

He shares three lessons he has learned from this experience. "First, this is my first experience with such a downturn and I thought at first that there would be just a slow down - business as normal, but just at a slower pace. We were lulled into thinking that things would continue as they had in the past, but instead they abruptly ended. Some things are not forever but they do return but in a different way."

"Second, I’ve learned that it’s important to continue to be optimistic and confident that the market will turn around in the future."

"Third, I’ve learned to occupy my time in other areas. I’ve been doing some consulting on the side and teaching at a local university. As I mentioned, my family is very important to me so I’m writing a book about parenting and writing a family constitution. Honestly, I’m much happier now having less money but more time rather than being controlled by innumerable tasks that didn’t allow me the opportunity to pursue other interests and spend quality time with my boys. I’m now playing and coaching baseball as well as being an actual example to my boys regarding the contentment that I have within me regardless of the horrific external circumstances surrounding and impacting us. These are valuable lessons being taught that would be very difficult to convey when everything was rosy and I was going 100mph. This experience has affirmed for me the value of time to do the things that are truly important."

Gale’s book is to be released in 2009. You can visit the website at www.MyFamilyConstitution.com

Interview with Scott Gale of Bluestone Communities by Ted Stearns, provider of Tract-PIE.