Our People

One of the keys to The Family Development Team’s success lies in the unique approach we take in regards to our people and our projects.  First, we believe that we all must strive to be experts at our craft; constantly improving our talents to adapt to the challenges at hand.  Secondly, we believe that we must be happy and we will be happiest if we are asked to perform jobs that utilize our specific skills and talents.  Next, we know that happiness in the work environment translates to passion.  Passion makes the difference that gives us the competitive edge.  That edge breeds success.

With such diverse backgrounds, each of the five principals of The Family Development Team utilizes his particular talent and specialized skills to oversee one of the five critical stages of the construction process with all of the partners providing their invaluable input along the way.  This hands-on approach allows each partner to utilize his passion and expertise with the entire team providing an excellent system of checks-and-balances at every level. 

The success of any company ultimately lies with its people.  In creating a company culture that includes happy, talented people driven by passion, The Family Development Team is able to consistently produce positive results at every project. 

Rudy C. Herrera

Acquisition, Financing & Entitlement
With a career spanning 27 years, Rudy Herrera has been responsible for overseeing the construction of numerous commercial, industrial and residential projects throughout the United States.  Over the years, Rudy has been the principal of several major commercial and residential building firms.  His experience includes working with such major national companies as Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Trader Joe’s and Starbucks Coffee.  Throughout his long career, Rudy has been instrumental in the negotiation and structuring of countless transactions totaling well into the billions of dollars.

For The Family Development Team, Rudy utilizes his passion for making deals by overseeing the first leg of the construction development process.  Using his expertise and large network of brokers and lenders, Rudy locates intriguing properties, structures their purchase and secures the deals.   Once the land purchase is secured, Rudy then works to assemble the entitlement team and, by working closely with government officials, expedites the planning
process.

Vincent J. Barbato

Entitlement, Design & Marketing
A graduate of UCLA, Vince began his career in real estate 26 years ago by starting a brokerage firm that specialized in the selling and marketing of new home communities.  Over the years, Vince oversaw the successful sale of several hundred residential communities throughout the western United States as well as internationally in Mexico.  A noted public speaker on the topics of New Home Sales Training and Marketing, Vince earned national recognition and accolades from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) as well as the Building Industry Association (BIA).  After having built the company into one of the largest in the country, in 1999, Vince’s sold the real estate brokerage to Prudential and the mortgage division to Wells Fargo. 

For The Family Development Team, Vince utilizes his passion for design and marketing by overseeing the second leg of the development process.  Each component of the design process is crafted with the future homeowners’ or tenants needs in mind.   From land planning and architectural design to product placement and logo creation, Vince utilizes his extensive market research and deep insight to guide the hands of the engineers, architects and designers to coordinate every detail of the design phase.

Raymond C. Herrera

Value-Engineering, Purchasing & Quality Control
There are few people who possess the level of construction knowledge and expertise that Raymond Herrera has developed over his 26 year career.  In that time, Ray has personally overseen the construction of numerous and varied real estate projects ranging from major commercial strip centers and industrial parks to multi-million custom home estates.  During his career, Ray has been recognized for his superior skills by receiving such recognition as the Gold Nugget Award for excellence in design given by the National Association of Home Builders. 

For The Family Development Team, Ray brings his detailed knowledge about every facet of building to oversee the third leg of the development process – the construction design phase and bidding.  After the projects are designed, Ray uses his vast construction knowledge to insure that the buildings are value-engineered to be efficient and of the highest quality.  Once the designs are perfected, Ray assembles the construction team by overseeing the bidding process to insure the best prices are obtained by the highest quality sub-contractors.

Robert K. Bishop

Construction, Inventory Control & Customer Service
With a career in construction management that spans over the past 26 years, Robert has worked on every side of the construction process.  From being out in the field on major projects to managing a $100,000,000 a year, multi-state General Contracting firm, Robert has seemingly tackled every construction challenge.  Robert’s successes can be directly attributed to his strict attention to detail, organization and systems as well as his thorough understanding of the construction process.

For The Family Development Team, Robert uses his vast experience to oversee the fourth critical stage of the development process – the actual construction.  The land is purchased, the plans are designed and approved, the sub-contractors are ready to start; Robert now coordinates the entire process by organizing the team and implementing and managing strict systems to insure that all projects are built on-time and on-budget.

Antun M. Barbato

Sales, Closings & Accounting
Upon graduating from UCSB, Antun Barbato began his career in real estate nearly 20 years ago by becoming one of the key sales people at the nation’s best-selling new home community.  Through the years, tenacity, talent and persistence allowed Antun to learn the development business from the ground up taking on every role from sales manager to bookkeeper.  Through the years, Antun built a solid reputation for his strict attention to detail and tireless work ethic.  His career includes managing well over 50 different successful real estate ventures; working with both small, private builders as well as leading national firms.  Antun’s career includes receiving recognition as a leading Sales Manager and Expert.

For The Family Development Team, Antun utilizes his passion for detail by initialing scrutinizing and underwriting every deal and then overseeing the management of the fifth and final critical stage of development – the closing of escrows and distribution of all proceeds.  Like the previous stages, this critical leg of the race is managed with strict systems and a diligent watch.  Each member of the closing team is assigned expectations and benchmarks which are closely tailored and monitored to achieve all goals.