Apers for Developers
Ground-up development, modeled from land basis through stabilization.
Apers is the AI system that handles construction draws, interest carry, lease-up curves, and permanent financing takeout — so your development team focuses on deals, not spreadsheet architecture.
You're building a building and a spreadsheet at the same time
The site is under contract. Entitlements look achievable — zoning supports 280 units, planning commission meets in six weeks. Your architect's preliminary drawings show 240 units pencil at $385/SF hard cost, and your GC's early budget confirms you're in the range. The land basis works at $4.2M. You need a full development pro forma by Thursday for the equity partner meeting.
So your VP of Development starts building the model. Monthly construction draws across an 18-month build — hard costs, soft costs, contingency, developer fee. Interest carry on the construction loan that compounds monthly as draws increase. A lease-up curve that phases 20 units per month starting at month 19. Stabilization at month 28. Permanent financing takeout that retires the construction debt. Then the hold period cash flows, the reversion, and the JV waterfall with a development promote.
The model takes three days. Not because the math is hard — your VP knows exactly how a construction draw schedule works. It takes three days because the spreadsheet architecture is hard. Monthly periods instead of annual. Draw formulas that reference the budget, the schedule, and the percent-complete curve simultaneously. Interest carry that compounds on the cumulative outstanding balance, which changes every month. A lease-up revenue line that starts mid-construction and ramps on a curve you have to build from scratch every time.
And then the deal changes. The GC's updated budget adds $2.8M. The city wants 15% affordable units. The equity partner wants to see a 24-month build instead of 18. Each change takes half a day to flow through the model because the formulas are fragile — change the construction timeline and you break the lease-up start, the interest carry calculation, and the stabilization date. You spend Friday rebuilding what you built Monday.
What changes with Apers
The draw schedule builds itself
Hard costs, soft costs, contingency, developer fee — broken into monthly draws based on the construction timeline and cost-loading curve. S-curve, front-loaded, linear — select the draw pattern and Apers generates the monthly schedule. Change the construction period from 18 to 24 months and every draw recalculates. Change the hard cost budget and the contingency, developer fee, and interest carry cascade automatically. The formulas are linked — because that's how construction budgets actually work.
Compounding interest that actually compounds correctly
Construction loan interest carry is the formula that breaks every development model. The outstanding balance changes every month as draws increase. The interest accrues on the cumulative balance. The interest itself gets added to the loan balance if it's not paid current. Apers models this monthly — the outstanding balance, the monthly interest accrual, the cumulative carry — all linked to the draw schedule. Extend construction by three months and the additional carry calculates automatically.
From certificate of occupancy to stabilization
The lease-up curve starts the month after CO. Apers models monthly absorption — 20 units/month, 25, whatever the market supports — with concessions that burn off as occupancy builds. Revenue ramps. Operating expenses phase in. The construction loan converts or gets taken out by permanent financing at a stabilization threshold you define. The model knows when lease-up starts because it knows when construction ends — change one and the other follows.
Historic conversions with the complexity they require
Historic tax credits — federal 20%, state credits where applicable. Qualified rehabilitation expenditure calculations. Environmental remediation as a phased line item. Demolition and abatement schedules. The capital stack for adaptive reuse is different from ground-up: tax credit equity, New Markets Tax Credits, brownfield incentives, layered on top of conventional debt and equity. Apers models the credits as they flow — syndication pricing, pay-in schedules, recapture risk — not as a single line item bolted onto a standard model.
Construction debt retires, permanent debt sizes
At stabilization, the construction loan gets taken out by permanent financing. Apers sizes the permanent loan based on stabilized NOI — LTV, DSCR, debt yield, whichever constraint binds first. The model shows the gap between construction loan balance and permanent loan proceeds. If there's a shortfall, you see it before you break ground — not 24 months later when the conversion is due. The hold-period cash flows, reversion, and JV waterfall all flow from the stabilized asset.
A development deal, start to finish
240-unit Class A multifamily ground-up. $4.2M land, $92.4M total development cost. 18-month construction, 10-month lease-up, 5-year hold post-stabilization. JV structure with development promote.
Land basis and entitlement
Input the land cost, closing costs, and entitlement timeline. Apers generates the pre-development budget — architectural, engineering, legal, permitting, impact fees — as a phased schedule. The carrying cost on the land during the entitlement period calculates automatically. You see the total basis before construction starts.
Construction budget and draws
Hard costs at $385/SF, soft costs at 22% of hard, 5% contingency. Developer fee at 4% of total cost. Apers generates the 18-month draw schedule with an S-curve distribution. Construction loan at 65% LTC, 7.25% rate. Monthly interest carry compounds on the outstanding balance — $5.1M by the time you reach CO.
Lease-up and stabilization
CO at month 19. Lease-up at 22 units/month with one month free on the first 60 units. Market rents at $2,150/unit. Revenue ramps monthly. Operating expenses phase in with management fee, insurance, taxes, and reserves. Stabilization at 93% occupancy — month 30. The permanent financing takeout sizes at $58.2M based on stabilized NOI and a 1.25x DSCR constraint.
Equity structure and promote
JV waterfall: LP contributes 90% of equity, GP contributes 10% plus sweat equity through the development fee. 10% preferred return. GP promote kicks in above a 15% IRR — 70/30 split to LP/GP. The development fee schedules against construction milestones. Every distribution tier is formula-driven — change the preferred return and every cash flow recalculates through disposition.
Sensitivity and capital partner presentation
Two-way sensitivity: construction cost overrun vs. achieved rent. Downside: 6-month construction delay plus 15% cost overrun. The model shows the impact on interest carry ($1.8M additional), lease-up timing, and levered returns. The deal still works at a 13.2% IRR in the downside — that's the number your equity partner needs to see.
Models built for development
A growing collection of development models — from ground-up to adaptive reuse, with the phased complexity these deals require.
Ground-Up Multifamily
Monthly construction draws, S-curve cost loading, interest carry, lease-up absorption, perm takeout, JV waterfall with development promote. The core development model.
Adaptive Reuse / Conversion
Historic tax credits, environmental remediation phasing, QRE calculations, demolition and abatement schedules, layered capital stack with tax credit equity.
Mixed-Use Development
Retail podium, residential tower — phased construction with separate lease-up curves by use type. Shared operating costs allocated by GLA.
Construction Loan Sizing
LTC and LTCV constraints. Monthly draw schedule with interest reserve. Completion guaranty and recourse burn-off at stabilization. Perm takeout sizing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Apers handle monthly construction draw schedules?
Yes. Apers models monthly construction draws across the full build period — hard costs, soft costs, contingency, and developer fee — with interest carry that compounds monthly as draws increase. The draw schedule links directly to the permanent financing takeout.
Can Apers model ground-up development with a JV waterfall?
Yes. The development models include construction period, lease-up, stabilization, and hold period cash flows, with a JV waterfall that handles development promotes, preferred returns, and multiple equity tiers. The waterfall recalculates as you change construction or lease-up assumptions.
How does Apers handle the transition from construction debt to permanent financing?
Apers models the full lifecycle: construction loan with monthly draws and interest reserve, stabilization trigger, and permanent financing takeout that retires the construction debt. The model shows the refi gap and equity implications at each stage.
What types of development does Apers support?
The Model Collection covers multifamily, mixed-use, industrial, and other ground-up development types. Each model handles the asset-class-specific lease-up assumptions — per-unit for residential, per-SF for commercial — while sharing the same construction draw and debt framework.
Can I use Apers for predevelopment feasibility before committing to a full model?
Yes. Pocket models provide single-sheet feasibility analysis for rapid go/no-go decisions. Input land cost, hard cost per SF, target rents, and exit cap — get back a quick-read on yield-on-cost and unlevered return before committing to a full underwriting.