Weekly Meetings

The owners of the Seattle home we feature this week came to the renovation project with separate teams. He brought the architect and landscape architect from two earlier renovations, and she brought the builder and interior designer she'd worked with before. 

The builder and architect had never met before this job, and there wasn't much time for a getting-to-know-you phase because the clients had already set a move-in date.

But what kept the project moving, they said, was a standing weekly meeting at the jobsite where the entire project team worked through decisions and looked ahead to what was coming next.

Those meetings aren't always practical. They can add travel time and costs. But architect Genevieve Theriault says they were the reason this team stayed on track. 

Architect Todd Smith says he and builder Aaron Lowers work the same way. After 16 projects together, regular site meetings are just part of their process. "The cliché is that the architect and builder have a negative dynamic," Smith says in our Builder in 5 Q&A. "This is a choice many choose to follow."

What about you? Do you insist on standing meetings?

—Pauline Hammerbeck

Signals: What We're Tracking

Remodeling demand is starting to slow. After years of growth driven by aging homes and renovation demand, improvement spending fell 7.2% year-over-year in June. NAHB's latest estimates were revised sharply downward. See what the slowdown means →

AI Data centers are changing the competition for land around the country, increasingly outbidding residential developers for land. In Virginia's Prince William County, a Microsoft-led deal for 124 acres paid $3.75 million per acre (land here typically averages $93,750 per acre). NAHB says it's happening around the country →

Meanwhile, more than 530 local municipalities have passed bans or restrictions on building new data centers, with the majority said to have been passed since the beginning of the year and nearly 190 passed just since June 1, according to Heatmap News →

Outdoor kitchens are becoming permanent infrastructure, according to the latest Houzz seasonal report. Nearly all projects now start from scratch (95%), with 68% adding infrastructure such as plumbing, electrical, or heating systems. See the full study details →

Nearly seven in 10 real estate agents had an international client who didn't complete a U.S. home purchase in the year ending March 2026, with one-third saying the client couldn't find a suitable property. Foreign purchases fell 19.1% to $45.3 billion, with Florida and California accounting for nearly 40% of purchases. Read more from MarketWatch →

Around Endeavor's Buildings & Construction Group

Nominate a Young Gun or Legend! [Pro Builder]

Bringing Luxury to the Bathroom [Pro Remodeler]

Five Questions for Landscape Designer Susan Cohan [Custom Builder]

Swiss Company Uses Gravity and 35-Ton Blocks to Store Energy [Building Design + Construction]