Dear Friends of EYA,
Last year we began a new tradition of kicking off the year with a letter to our broader EYA family entitled “Walk the Talk.” The name is tied to our vision of delivering on our tag line of “Life Within Walking Distance.” The purpose is to reflect on the prior year’s successes and to highlight goals and expectations for the year ahead.
2020 was by far the most unique year I have ever experienced in business and in life. The pandemic, the protests associated with social justice and the Black Lives Matter movement, and the build-up to the election had a wide range of impacts on our business and our personal lives.
Gratitude is the word that best describes the past year for me, and I believe everyone at EYA.
Gratitude for:
- The amazing EYA team who supported one another, adapted in real-time and didn’t miss a beat.
- Our subcontractors and consultants who pivoted to the new world of virtual meetings and process in continuing our production.
- The local jurisdictions who kept the entitlement and construction process moving through virtual hearings, plan review and inspections.
- Land sellers, lenders, Bernstein Management and JBG Smith who demonstrated their confidence in EYA’s ability to adapt and thrive during crisis and continued to support our mission.
- Our purchasers who embraced our new virtual sales tools and processes, many buying their homes virtually and settling during these uncertain times.
- The thousands of EYA homeowners who remind us of the importance of our mission to deliver homes and communities where they feel safe, secure and connected.
2020 saw a complete reimagination of almost all of our business processes and customer engagement to operate in a virtual world. At the same time, our field operations continued to produce quality homes through our amazing subcontractors under the supervision of our outstanding construction team. While March and April were two of the most uncertain months in EYA history, the summer and fall brought a renewed focus to control what you can control, and to have a positive outlook for the year and for the future.
As we look ahead to 2021, all of us at EYA are excited about what lies ahead. It looks like vaccines are closer to being in all of our arms than ever before. Hopefully, the vaccine brings a return to a new normal by late this year. Our pipeline is as strong as it's ever been. We are pursuing entitlements on multiple projects and plan to open two new communities this year to complement the three communities we opened in 2020.
Our partnership with our equity partner Bernstein Management is strong and together we are looking to pursue multiple new projects in 2021. There continues to be an excellent outlook for new home sales and the industry is supply constrained by a shortage of entitled lots. We look forward to working with local public and private institutions to help them find value from their landholdings. We are also looking to convert more obsolete retail and commercial properties to residential helping landowners convert unproductive assets to higher and better values.
We hope to work with all of you in the future and know you will help us identify and develop new sites that meet our mission of offering “Life Within Walking Distance.”
We wish all of you a safe, happy, and healthy new year!
With gratitude,
Bob Youngentob
EYA CEO