What We Do.
Building is a journey. Picture Castor & Pollux your trusted guide. We have walked the trail many times before. Each project requires its own unique map to get to the end. Below are some of the usual stops along the way.
Early Planning Collaboration.
Most projects fail in the first three months - not because of construction, but because the project was never properly defined before money was spent on design. Foundation is where we make sure the project is the right project before anyone draws a line.
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Customer Identification (resident, guest, retail patron, mixed)
Demographic and psychographic profile of the target customer
Competitive set analysis - direct and adjacent
Market gap identification and positioning opportunities
Demand validation against pricing assumptions
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Project naming strategy and brand architecture
Positioning statement and category definition
Tone, voice, and design language direction
Brand-to-product alignment
Long-term brand extension considerations
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Translating brand positioning into a built concept
Defining the experience the project delivers from arrival to departure
Identifying the moments of differentiation versus competitive set
Concept stress-testing against operational and financial realities
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Optimal distribution by type, size, and price point
Amenity programming and adjacency strategy
Retail and F&B mix for mixed-use projects
Ratio of public to private space
Reconciling mix to proforma revenue assumptions
Back of house and operational consideration
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Mapping the user journey from first impression through long-term use
Defining sensory, service, and spatial standards
Identifying signature moments and how they reinforce the brand
Setting the operational implications of the experience before design
Programming & Execution Planning.
Once the project is defined, it has to be made real. This is the bridge between idea and construction documents — and it’s where the wrong team or wrong sequence will quietly kill an otherwise good project.
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Translating the program into square footage and adjacencies
Test fits against the site or building envelope
Circulation, back-of-house, and service planning
Code, accessibility, and life-safety pre-validation
Identifying constraints early enough to design around them
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Bringing operations into the design process before drawings are issued
Back-of-house and service flow validation
Staffing model implications of design decisions
Technology, systems, and FF&E integration planning
Brand standard reconciliation for operated assets
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Early Project Underwriting & Financial Review
Operational Performance
Build Quality to Cost Analysis and Alignment
Project Cast Flow Through Execution
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Identifying the right architect, interior designer, landscape architect, and specialty consultants
Leveraging existing relationships to bring in vetted partners
Negotiating consultant scope, fees, and contracts
Setting team protocols, roles, and deliverable expectations
Replacing team members when the fit is wrong, before damage is done
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Drafting and issuing RFPs for design and consulting services
Evaluating proposals and making selection recommendations
Reference checking and capability validation
Financial Alignment.
Connecting every decision back to financial outcome.
Design decisions are financial decisions. Operational decisions are financial decisions. We make the connection explicit at every step, so the project performs the way the proforma promised it would.
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Reviewing pro forma assumptions against market and concept
Pressure-testing revenue, expense, and yield assumptions
Sensitivity analysis on key variables
Identifying mismatches between proforma and design before they become problems
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Hard cost and soft cost budget review
FF&E and OS&E budget development
Contingency strategy
Reconciling design ambition to budget reality early, not late
Value Engineering Strategy
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Joint Venture (GP/LP) Structuring support
Capital Strategy
Debt and Financing Interview Process
Current and Potential Partner Project Review
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Tracking design and construction against budget and schedule
Owner representation in key meetings
Issue escalation and decision-making support
Monthly reporting and risk flagging
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Pre-opening budget alignment
Operational readiness coordination with owner and operator
Soft opening and ramp-up strategy
Post-opening review against original project intent
Design & Construction Leadership.
Guiding design from concept through construction.
Architects and designers do the design. We protect the integrity of the design intent across hundreds of decisions, dozens of disciplines, and the inevitable pressures of cost and schedule. We are the owner’s eyes inside the design process.
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Reviewing and challenging concept proposals against the defined project
Ensuring the design responds to the brand and customer
Flagging gaps between design intent and operational reality
Maintaining the spirit of the project as it moves to plan
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Detailed review of design as it resolves
Material, finish, and fixture review and selection support
Lighting design coordination
FF&E direction and curation
Coordination with brand standards (for flagged hospitality)
Aesthetic and functional reconciliation across disciplines
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Drawing set review at key milestones
Specification review
Detail review for design intent preservation
Coordination across architectural, MEP, structural, and interior sets
Identifying and resolving conflicts before they reach the field
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Submittal and shop drawing review against design intent
Mockup review and sign-off
Site visits at critical milestones
RFI review and response coordination
Field decision support when design intent is challenged
Punch list and final review before turnover
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ItemHolding the design line when value engineering pressure arrives
Identifying which cost cuts compromise the project and which don’t
Pushing back on changes that erode the brand or experience
Documenting design decisions so future questions don’t unravel them description
Operations & Pre-Opening.
It is a living breathing community. We stand it up together.
Hotels, multifamily communities, restaurants and frankly any building is a living breathing environment. It is a dynamic space that will change every single day, sometimes every hour. At Castor & Pollux we are born of operators. We come from some of the most well-respected hotel and residential operators in the world. Operations are not something that starts 120 days out from opening - it starts on the first day of project planning.
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Build an operating plan for the asset on day one. This will drive the program.
Create the proper back of house spaces to run the property for the long haul.
Ensure that the asset’s value is driven by future operator’s confidence in ownership.
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RFP for all potential management firms
Review and negotiation of operational legal documents
Pre-Opening planning and hiring established on day one
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Full oversight and reporting on all pre-opening activity
Pre-opening budget and schedule support
Full Pre-Opening checklists and tracking
Working with brands and or asset management teams through the process
Coordinating technology needs through opening
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Return to site to ensure smooth handoff to operations
Prepare all documentation for operator including plans, specifications, care
Creation of any SOPs for the property
RFI review and response coordination
Coordination of any punch and go-back work
“We were skeptical as to whether we needed another partner on the project. After one meeting with [Castor & Pollux] they became our primary partner. Now we won’t start one without them.’
– Doug Zabel, Zabel Investment Group
Get In Touch
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