On the Level: Rick Judson, principal manager of Evergreen Group and 2013 NAHB president

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We met Rick Judson at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Green Oaks Lane, the site of his latest real estate venture in a Charlotte homebuilding and development career that stretches back more than three decades.

But if we had waited a day or two, we could have met him at the intersection of 15th Street and M Street Northwest in Washington, about four blocks from the White House.

That’s because Judson, 63, is no longer simply principal manager of Evergreen Group, builder of the 174-unit, $24 million Williamsburg on Commonwealth condominium project in the Commonwealth-Briar Creek area.

Starting in January, he’ll also be the president of the D.C.-based National Association of Home Builders, which he said has an annual operating budget of $100 million a year. He’s the first builder from Charlotte to occupy the presidency and only the third from North Carolina.

In Charlotte, he’s working on the final phase of the Williamsburg project, converting row upon row of apartment buildings into $130,000, 1,000-square-foot condominiums that are available for sale or lease-purchase.

In Washington, he’ll be in charge of a trade group with 150,000 members and 150 staffers.

Both of which mean Judson has a commanding perspective on this homebuilding thing. Here are some observations.

This is an interesting project, taking $6 million in apartments in an up-and-coming, close-in neighborhood and turning them into affordable condos. We started Williamsburg on Commonwealth about eight years ago, and the economy stalled, so it’s taken us a little longer than we expected. In the late ’60s, these were luxury apartments that, like so much built around that time in this area, fell into disrepair. And we came in and won a new green-building certification and several state and local awards for improving the infrastructure of the neighborhood and the proximity to bus lines.

We’ve tried hard to not displace the renters here; they’re given the first chance at buying the new units, and we have a lease-purchase program. Someone could own one of these for about $700 a month. And they have some real nice touches, like spray-on, soundproof insulation between units and granite countertops.

You haven’t always specialized in renovations. Over the years, I’ve done it all, from custom homes to entry-level to what we call first and second move-up homes. And I’ve developed land and done lots for other builders. It was not a grand plan. It was just keeping up with market forces. I’ve been doing this for more than 30 years.

I sold the vertical part of my business, the putting up of houses part, in ’06 and went into the horizontal part of this business: land development. But I kept this renovation project, because it became a real passion. The difference we’ve made in this community, the value we’ve added.

At one point in my career, I was doing 200 homes a year. I still have land waiting for building in four communities, about 350 lots in all. It’s ironic that lots I couldn’t have given away two years ago, some of them now have multiple interest. Sometimes the builders can’t get a loan on a lot they want. That’s the dilemma on the national scene for builders. And the mortgage for the ultimate buyers is hindered by the appraisal. There is a functional problem with appraisals. They’re basing the appraisals off distressed properties.

So who’s buying these lots? What we’re seeing is the equity firms, and others, buying assets from the bank, before they ever get to auction. And they buy in bulk, a half dozen lots in distress, and they get them for 60 cents on the dollar, and the banks will unload them because they are under all these new reform regulations and just want to get rid of any kind of inventory. Anybody in the real estate process, they’re jobs are harder. There’s been a complete overhaul because of the meltdown in housing. So I’m glad I’m out of the vertical part of my business.

Now you’re bringing your experience to the office of El Presidente of the NAHB. As I approach this presidency, it’s a payback to the industry, my swan song.

I was involved for many years on the local, state, regional and sometimes the national level. And I was asked to take on a more national role. I’m nearing retirement. And so I ran for office and won. And I’m humbled by it. It’s the largest construction organization in, I guess, the world. There are 150,000 members. That’s down from about 220,000 at the height of the boom; so many people have gotten out of the business. But that 150,000 represents a half a million people, when you consider the number of people who work for those member businesses.

I have a lot of experience with regulatory scrutiny of the past few years, new codes, new OSHA requirements, the lending and appraisal constraints. That’s the experience I bring to the NAHB.

Are you relocating to D.C.? I know there’s an awful lot of lobbying involved. I’m in Washington every other week, and I’m on the phone much of the rest of the time. The lobbying aspect of it is a very important part of what we do. Our business is so technical, the legislative part of it has to be done by someone in the business to be done right, objectively, honestly.

What would you tell someone getting into this business today? Educational awareness is central. It’s no longer a sticks-and-bricks, hammer-and-nail kind of industry. It’s the organizational structure of a cost-effective business.

A lot of colleges and universities have construction-management degrees now, many of them supported by the Home Builders Institute, the nonprofit educational arm of the NAHB. That’s a huge portion of what we do. If our members can stay on top of that ongoing educational component, they’ll avoid making expensive mistakes. Two of my four grown children are in banking, and one focuses on construction lending. And it’s interesting: He decided to go to graduate school at Duke to study finance, and now he’s teaching the old man all these intricacies of finance.

Still learning? Are you really going to retire? No, I’ll be involved in the industry in some shape, form or fashion. This is an industry that won’t let you go once you get started.