From Investor to Luxury Developer: AJ Gonzalez’s Journey

Aj Gonzalez (00:00)
You’ve got to be, you know, right there in the forefront of it. So, you know, going to these different trade shows, you know, having relationships with key vendors, you know, also having the vision to be creative, stretch boundaries of design, stretch boundaries of logistics, know things that that can be done and normally done, know communication, know client feedback. I mean this is just really and truly being authentic, right? And you know letting the clients know like it’s okay to not be safe here, you know, like let’s stretch this, let’s make it work and really just following through, right? So, you know in this world

Where things are starting to narrow down a little bit and everybody’s about stocks and some people are about real estate. This is my life. This is how I feed my family. This is how I’ve made millions of dollars. This is how I became successful. So it’s like I live, eat, sleep, drink real estate. I’m constantly researching. I’m on YouTube. I’m reading books. I’m seeing what the competition is doing. I’m looking at architectural digest. I’m following some of the very notable

Architects around the world that have built some very beautiful projects. And so, you know, that’s what really it takes for you to really go to the next level is that you have to be a student of the game.

Erika Proctor (02:46)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pro Show. I’m your host, Erika Proctor, and today I’m thrilled to be joined by AJ Gonzalez, the powerhouse behind Centric Development Group. AJ, it’s so awesome to have you on the show today.

Aj Gonzalez (02:59)
Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Erika Proctor (03:01)
AJ, you’ve been crushing it in the construction space. So let’s dive in. Tell us more. How did you get started with construction in the first place?

Aj Gonzalez (03:10)
Absolutely. So my mom always makes fun of me because I was the kid that took stuff apart and put it back together. And sometimes it didn’t even make it to get put back together. But it was really just the thought that count. Right. So I’ve always just loved and adored constructing, building, architecture, design. And when I had the opportunity to start with my first investment property when I was 26 years old, I didn’t look back. So here we are 14 years later. You know, we’ve done several multimillion dollar

We’ve broken a couple records and so we’re doing okay and I’m really thankful, really blessed.

Erika Proctor (03:43)
That’s really exciting. AJ, in your journey, was there a certain moment where you knew that construction was going to be your lane?

Aj Gonzalez (03:50)
You know, we built a project, it was a spec house and the light really turned on for me when the project was complete and this very notable client sat in the kitchen and looked around and said, I never knew what my dream house would be like, but this is it. And that was a priceless moment.

where this very notable figure that had a lot of money and could have bought anything that they wanted to buy felt like the product that we put on the table was their dream home. And so I think that was a moment for us to tell us that we need to keep pushing.

Erika Proctor (04:24)
That’s awesome. And AJ, what markets are you working in? What’s your focus, you would say, within construction?

Aj Gonzalez (05:19)
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for asking. right now we are primary new construction, ground up new construction. Coincidentally, we have a lot of high end renovation clients, if you can believe. We have about nine active high end renovation projects going on right now. And then we have about eight ground up new construction projects at different stages right now.

And so we are not slowing down. We are taking on a lot of business. We’re operating in three different states currently. Our team is growing. Our business is growing. And so there’s a lot of really good things that’s happening right now.

Erika Proctor (05:56)
Yeah, sure sounds like it. having all those things going, how do you balance that and still offer high quality construction?

Aj Gonzalez (06:03)
Absolutely. Great question. So I have a wonderful team. I have an experienced admin that has been doing admin for about 15 years. So she kind of keeps us in line with a lot of the admin tasks. I have a couple project managers, and then I have another operations manager who’s also a licensed general contractor and an architect. And so when I’m…

in different job sites, I’m able to be duplicated at least two to three times. So that same continuity, that same consistency just kind of flows through with every project. We’re working with some really seasoned designers that have put out a lot of really good product. And so that is the other part of it as well, is just having a consistent team and consistent people that we work with that helps us to able to balance everything.

Erika Proctor (06:55)
Yeah, absolutely. And you probably have had to be really thoughtful about who you’ve put on your team. How have you determined that over the years?

Aj Gonzalez (07:03)
So to be honest with you, the transition to entrepreneur from corporate professional, it was not difficult for me because I had always juggled and managed multiple jobs and multiple ventures at the same time. So I took the same level of thoughtfulness and thoroughness that I went through during the interview process of joining Corporate America.

and intangibles that they look for, I actually looked for those same things when becoming an entrepreneur and building my own business. And so if you hadn’t really worked in corporate America and you hadn’t really gone through that four and five and six interview process and all these scenarios and such, you wouldn’t be able to turn around and put someone else through that same type of interview process. So, it’s a combination between personality, energy, what frequency do they operate on?

really understanding what their strengths and their opportunities are. It’s important to not hire someone that’s exactly like you. I learned and worked in corporate America that you need someone of every personality type in order to make your business grow. And so it’s important to get someone that has those intangibles, but that’s very different.

So that way, know, nothing is stale. Every day is a new ⁓ adventure, you know, a new challenge. And so you guys can mesh well because where you’re weak, they’re strong and vice versa.

Erika Proctor (08:23)
Yeah, absolutely. And AJ, I’m sure you know the space you’re working in is competitive. How do you differentiate yourself from other firms?

Aj Gonzalez (08:32)
Absolutely. That’s a great question. So ⁓ number one, buy your product offering, right? So, you know, as, as technology evolves, as product evolves,

you’ve got to be, you know, right there in the forefront of it. So, you know, going to these different trade shows, you know, having relationships with key vendors, you know, also having the vision to be creative, stretch boundaries of design, stretch boundaries of

logistics, know things that that can be done and normally done, know communication, know client feedback. I mean this is just really and truly being authentic, right? And you know letting the clients know like it’s okay to not be safe here, you know, like let’s stretch this, let’s make it work and really just following through, right? So, you know in this world

where things are starting to narrow down a little bit and everybody’s about stocks and some people are about real estate. This is my life. This is how I feed my family. This is how I’ve made millions of dollars. This is how I became successful. So it’s like I live, eat, sleep, drink real estate. I’m constantly researching. I’m on YouTube. I’m reading books. I’m seeing what the competition is doing. I’m looking at architectural digest. I’m following some of the very notable

architects around the world that have built some very beautiful projects. And so, you know, that’s what really it takes for you to really go to the next level is that you have to be a student of the game. And, you know, I’m nowhere near where I’d like to be, but I’m nowhere near where I started from for sure.

Erika Proctor (10:38)
Yeah, yeah, that’s awesome AJ. You know, the other thing that I wanted to ask you too is what kind of trends are you seeing through the new construction lens with the projects you’re working on?

Aj Gonzalez (10:48)
Absolutely, that’s a great question. So working with some of the best designers that we have in my marketplace, they help me to transition from trend to trend, right? And so right now, some of the design trends that we’re really seeing is that a lot of the tones of brown are in. So the chocolates, the tans, the suede, all of those colors are in. So we’re really.

implementing a lot of that into our projects. The white oaks, the champagne bronze, arches are in big time right now. If you’re not implementing arches, mean, you’re losing out on some really key design aesthetic there. LED is becoming a huge, huge thing. So it’s being intentional about where you put your lighting and how you put your lighting.

And then also just, of course, we can’t forget about the technology piece of it, right? Like we’re all busy, we’re all working, and it’s like, how can the technology make our life easier? Is it lighting? Is it security? Is it home automation? And so every project, we’ve really focused on some of those key elements and how we make each project different, but stand out and able to offer the end user a little bit something unique for themselves.

Erika Proctor (12:36)
Yeah, that’s exciting to pivot a little bit. I know you also work with investors. So on the one hand, we have trends. On the other hand, you might have an investor who is very concerned with margins and making a good return on their deal. How do you balance both of those things?

Aj Gonzalez (13:34)
Absolutely. That’s a great question. So you don’t really understand the mind of an investor until you’re actually an investor, right? And you understand that, you you have certain margins that you have to meet. You might have three or four investors that have come together for a project. So they’ve got certain profit that they’re trying to obtain. And so, you know, the name of the game for an investor is like, how quickly can we get this done? Right? Like the number one question is, well, what’s the lead time?

What’s the lead time? What’s the lead time? So the key to working with an investor is being in the mind of an investor and actually having them understand the process. So if you help them to understand the process, then you can better explain lead times and you can better explain costs and you can better explain logistics and why things have to happen the way they happen. You know, it’s not just about

completing a project for them, but it’s about setting an expectation. And I’ve learned through experience that once you set an expectation and you actually meet that expectation, then the level of respect is way up there. You you’re being honest, you be transparent, and you deliver, and then the level of respect and they always come back, right? It’s not just about just delivering something quick and cheap and then it’s, you know, it may sit on the market or whatever, so.

There’s a nice little balance that you have to know there for sure.

Erika Proctor (14:53)
Yeah. Every business has a moment where things get real. And I’m sure you know this, maybe a deal went sideways or just a tough project and you know, there was a lesson from it. Would you mind sharing one of those moments in your journey, AJ?

Aj Gonzalez (15:07)
Yeah, 100%. For me, the challenge in completing projects, especially a spec project, is you just always want to keep going. You always want to keep adding something and changing the design and optimizing the product. so sometimes you have to really reel yourself in and say, OK, that’s enough. We build in contingency money in the budget. And sometimes certain things happen or don’t happen on site.

And so you’ve got to be prepared for that. So I would say that 100 % like for me, the one lesson that I learned early is the budget. Like you can live and die by your budget. If you do not budget correctly, if you don’t have the right contingency money in there, if you don’t understand the cost of certain things, and then also for whatever reason after the pandemic, like labor has shot up.

Nothing is cheap anymore. Tile guys are not cheap, drywall guys are not cheap, and I’m going to speak relatively for different markets, but it’s no longer really cheap to just throw houses up and put houses together, especially if you’re a custom builder like myself and you’re not doing a ton of volume.

So, you know, living and dying by your budget, properly budgeting, over budgeting, adding 10, 15%, you know, on top of whatever you budget for the cost, plus your contingency money. You know, at the end of the day, if you don’t need it, don’t use it. But if you need it, man, and it’s not there, like it could kill you for sure.

Erika Proctor (16:37)
Yeah, you said if you need it, don’t use it. And it’s funny because my next question had to do with networking. And I was just thinking, how much we need people in this industry to thrive. What kind of advice would you give people when it comes to networking? Was there any specific group or relationship that was a game changer for you with your business?

Aj Gonzalez (16:58)
Absolutely. So to me, before you network, you have to create a brand.

You have to create something that you stand for. You have to create something that you can, that people can identify with. So when you meet someone, it’s not just, Hey, my name is whatever it’s, Hey, my name is Joe. This is what I do. And this is how I do it. And this is how it’s made, you know, how successful I’ve been doing it. And then from there, the conversations can grow information can exchange, et cetera. But it’s very important to create a brand for yourself.

And so for me, know, as real estate has started to become more and more…

as an everyday thing that people say that they do, I’ve had to identify myself as a custom luxury developer. And so that separates myself from just when they say, hey, what do you do? I’m in real estate. No, I’m a custom luxury developer. Really? Tell me more about that, right? And so, you know, putting key adjectives on what it is that you do, being able to have real life examples or real life, you know,

success stories from what it is that you do, that opens up doors for you for sure.

Erika Proctor (18:12)
Yeah, that’s awesome. What’s the next big milestone that you’re aiming for with Centric Development Group?

Aj Gonzalez (18:19)
So I’ve talked with my team about this over the last few days. We believe that our next step is to transition into high density housing, being able to provide a luxury product in a high density format. I think that’s going to be great. I think our market needs it.

that I live in in Georgia for a while, it has been the number one destination for relocation in the United States. I haven’t checked for 2025, but for the past few years, Georgia has been the number one destination for relocation. And so there’s a lot of development opportunity. And so, you know, for us doing some high density luxury housing projects is something that’s on our radar that we’re currently actively working.

Erika Proctor (19:06)
That’s exciting. All right, AJ, before we wrap up, if someone wants to connect with you, learn more about your company or collaborate on a project, what’s the best way for them to reach you?

Aj Gonzalez (19:15)
100%. So our website is www.centricdevelopmentgroup.com. You can find me on Instagram at AJDevelopsATL and our email address is contact at centricdevelopmentgroup.com.

Erika Proctor (19:30)
Great. AJ, thanks so much for being on the show. I just love your passion for construction, quality, and ⁓ your growth plan’s pretty awesome.

Aj Gonzalez (19:38)
Thank you so much. really appreciate it. I appreciate the opportunity. You know, we have a lot of really good things going on. So you guys take a look out for us. Some really high end developments coming out really soon. We’ve got some really great stuff going on on the north side of town in Atworth, Georgia. So if you hear anything about a central development group, it’s AJ Gonzalez. So thank you guys very much. I appreciate it.

Erika Proctor (20:00)
awesome for everyone tuning in. If you got value from this episode, make sure that you’re subscribed to the real estate pro show. We’ve got more conversations like this one coming up with operators like AJ who are building incredible businesses in the real estate world. We’ll see you on the next episode.