A fully integrated, owner-aligned approach that programs every dimension of a project simultaneously — replacing the traditional, sequential design-bid-build model with a single, unified team that de-risks earlier, reduces cost, and accelerates the path to financing.
Conventional Design-Build addresses only design and construction. Design to Develop Services (DDS) is fundamentally broader: it integrates architecture, construction, project management, financial strategy, and — where viable — the investment of the core team directly into the project as participants, not merely service providers.
The DDS team operates on the owner’s side of the table from day one. Architects, builders, project managers, and financial strategists work together in a single, transparent structure — eliminating the artificial walls that traditionally separate design from construction from finance.
“DDS is like business planning, not only project planning — with all stakeholders providing the most valuable guidance at the time when key decisions on all aspects of the project are being made, not after most decisions have already been locked in.”
No need to deal with the notoriously inefficient cycle of Design → Bid → Value Engineer → Redesign → Re-Bid. DDS eliminates that loop by integrating financial feasibility from the first programming session.
Where traditional methods address zoning and building codes in isolation, DDS programs the project against all relevant variables at once:
DDS has been proven over nearly three decades of post-2008 market evolution, organically emerging as the industry’s most effective response to complex, capital-intensive projects. Metropolitan has formalized and systematized what others have been testing informally.
No — the opposite. When you factor in the financial contribution by the project team in the form of fees for equity, design efficiency, and lower project management costs, DDS fees are at or below market rates. On top of that, DDS fees are typically recognized as project equity by construction lenders and limited partners, reducing the out-of-pocket capital required at the most expensive stage of the development cycle.
Because the team shares resources and eliminates duplications, design fees are lower from the outset. Because re-works and delays are minimized, total project duration is shorter — and project personnel spend less time on the clock.
Interested in applying DDS to your project or portfolio? We’d like to hear about it.
Get In Touch ← Metropolitan Dev Co