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CEO admits he was 'disconnected' during company's rapid growth.
Heading into 2017, Derek Coppess knew there would be a change at 616 Development.
The change came fast this spring, as 616 partnered with Mount Pleasant-based KMG Prestige Inc. for backend operational support and "right-sized" its staff, trimming from nearly 30 employees to fewer than 10. The staff restructuring also resulted in the loss of former Director of Development Jeff Olsen and Director of Community Relations Monica Steimle-App, the firm's first employee.
"I knew something was going to happen this year, we were growing and growing and stabilized and we could see how we were planning out," said Coppess, the firm's founder and CEO. "It became clear if I were to get back into development, we'd have to restructure some things."
616 Development's growth came fast, with Coppess three large projects - 616 Lofts on Michigan, 616 Lofts on Monroe and 616 Lofts on Alabama - coming online within months of each other and stifled the development pipeline coming up. As the projects came online, staff at the company ballooned. Once those projects were stabilized and online, the team wasn't fully needed, Coppess said.
Since 616 Development's founding in 2011, the company has built a portfolio of seven communities and more than 300 units, but with a major focus on marketrate housing. The city's relatively recent clarity on a vision for affordable, workforce...