What were the business models of real estate development in ancient Rome?

Question

I just watched Mary Beard's documentary about the Romans. One thing I'm curious about is that some of the models of living of the Romans seemed to be quite similar to today's: e.g. that there were multistory apartment buildings as well as middle and high class single homes.

• Do we have an idea about the relative costs of these buildings? Do we now how much work was involved in creating standard apartment buildings vs more expensive homes for the wealthy?
• Do we know how long it took to create either of them in terms of total hours of work?
• Were the buildings made by request or commissioned by public demand, i.e. when needed?
• Who paid for multistory buildings? What was the business model so to speak?

I don't know much about Roman history beyond my secondary school education and Mary's documentary. So I apologies if my questions don't make sense to someone who knows much more about this period and appreciate any corrections.

Thanks!

Answer 1

In the Late Republic, Marcus Licinius Crassus organized the only Fire Brigade in Rome - but only fought fires that threatened buildings that Crassus owned. According to this translation of Plutarch:

Moreover, observing how extremely subject the city was to fire and falling down of houses, by reason of their height and their standing so near together, he bought slaves that were builders and architects, and when he had collected these to the number of more than five hundred, he made it his practice to buy houses that were on fire, and those in the neighbourhood, which, in the immediate danger and uncertainty the proprietors were willing to part with for little or nothing, so that the greatest part of Rome, at one time or other, came into his hands. Yet for all he had so many workmen, he never built anything but his own house, and used to say that those that were addicted to building would undo themselves soon enough without the help of other enemies.

and

Crassus, however, was very eager to be hospitable to strangers; he kept open house, and to his friends he would lend money without interest, but called it in precisely at the time; so that his kindness was often thought worse than the paying the interest would have been.

Note that there was not yet such a thing as the share-capital corporation, which still lay a sesquimillenium in the future, and the development of double-entry bookkeeping was still 500 years in the future. Thus the only available business structures were proprietorships and partnerships, and their size was limited by the absence of the accounting controls that are enabled by the use of double-entry bookkeeping.