City planning major -> RE Development?
I'm currently a senior majoring in City Planning, and looking to go into the Real Estate Development sector when I graduate. I'm minoring in Real Property Development and trying to get some development intern experience before I graduate - unfortunately I didn't really know I wanted to do this until fairly recently.
If I could do it all over again I would probably major in Construction Management or Business, but it is what it is. Does anybody know the viability of going into RE Development as a city planning major?
I've heard a good path with this is to get a job with land entitlements for a development firm, but I would like to hear what you guys think.
Yes. You can do this. Not hard at all. Just network. A good path many take as well is working for a housing organization within the local municipality. Do that for two years and than easy switch to development as well.
Thanks. I was worried that I wouldn't be as qualified when it comes to the financial aspect but I'm going to be taking a real estate finance class this year and I'm sure there are different jobs within a firm with less of a focus on that stuff
In my opinion, no one is truly qualified when they begin at a new job. Sure they may know a little, but you learn the majority of it on the job.
yes, you can apply/get jobs in real estate development, but like anyone trying to do this, the number of direct options from UG is limited (clearly getting an internship for a developer can be one way to make a direct hire). So, depending on how your town's job prospects look, you should consider other related fields as many do. That said, your background could be judged unique and become an advantage as it is more unique than finance, construction, or architecture (of course, a degree in city planning is different than a background in city planning).
In reality, a lot of people in dev shops of all kinds/sizes have eclectic backgrounds and majors, from art history to biology, not just b-school type majors or engineering. City planning is pretty dead on related to real estate development, so its not even unrelated, just rarer. Since you are still in school, you may want to see if you can a real estate course or finance course, otherwise do one of the various online programs that gets discussed here. This isn't to make you the "finance expert" but give you some better footing in interview and a better knowledge base.
Anyway.... the bottom line is simple, you are really in an equal footing to pretty much all other majors, just need to do the same things they do to stand out (internships, direct skill development, networking, joining groups like ULI/NAIOP, etc.).
That's good to hear. I'm taking a real estate finance class next term and I think I will be going over a lot of pro formas and doing "Break into CRE" excel work.
But yeah, I have heard 90% of it is networking and sounding like you know what you're talking about (i.e. keep up with recent news in RE) as it isn't difficult to teach once hired. Would you recommend I get my RE license?
yeah, you have 100% the right idea. That is a good observation about knowing what is going on/sounding like you 'get it', I'd say that is very true. To that end, beyond reading sites like GlobeSt/Bisnow/etc. (+any local RE/biz papers), I HIGHLY recommend active involvement in your closest ULI/NAIOP chapters (and/or in the markets you want to work to the extent possible), student membership is dirt cheap and you can meet tons of people, BUT just going to all the meetings/events will get you up to speed on the world fairly quickly.
As to the RE license question... this is a classic 'no harm' and could help in some circumstances. Won't make much of a difference for devco (but you may learn some stuff on titles, deeds, zoning, etc. that actually relate to what people will think you should know being a 'city planning type'), but there are many jobs at RE broker firms that could be alternates if you don't land a devco role, so getting the lic. can help enhance that path if it is of consideration to you. The other benefit (small one...) is that it is one more 'signal' that you are serious about a real estate career and not just applying for the sake of it (believe or not, this is one of the toughest things in getting hired, proving to RE firms you really want/are passionate about a career in RE, not just some rando applying around).
Starting to network and getting an internship sounds like a good path. It might be worth exploring affordable housing development if that interests you, given that this seems to be especially linked to working with local governments/communities.
Extremely common - most shops that have a heavy focus on leveraging expertise in the entitlement process will focus primarily on recruiting urban planning and architectural backgrounds on their development team. Sometimes construction management folks if the shop doesn't have a dedicated construction team.
The business backgrounds usually get put on acquisitions/investments. I'd argue it's the toughest undergrad to break into a true development role fresh out of UG from out of the standard target degrees (business, urban planning, architecture, engineering).
That's great to hear. Any clue what the job title would be that I should be searching for? Just like entry level development associate?
Yea you'd be targeting Development Coordinator at most shops out of undergrad, Development Associate at some if they skip the Coordinator title.
Development Analyst roles are generally going to be more geared towards the business guys and focused almost entirely on market research and underwriting.
I also started off my career in urban planning and economic development, but working in and for governments is soul sucking in the long run. It did give me great exposure to the realities of governmental processes and personalities, but didn't fully allow me to jump directly to the development side despite my degree being in Finance. I tried to make that jump to the development side for 2.5 years, but still had to take an interim step. Economic development for cities is essentially no commission land brokerage, so I moved to that industry.
Looking back, I should have saved a few years and jumped directly into the land brokerage role, but I had an architecture/urban planning itch that I needed to scratch. Land brokerage puts you in direct contact with the decision makers and players in your local development space, and gives you the opportunity to learn from and add value to these people in a direct way. In the best case, you become a legitimate consultant to these people/groups and a known value in the entire development space. I now have numerous opportunities to transition to great roles on the principal side with great developers when I choose to, but brokerage is too lucrative and fun right now to make that move.
Another path is working on the Pre-Construction teams at larger diversified GCs or architecture firms. They do most of the same things that many development shops do and will give you exposure to both the entitlements and construction portion of the business. This can reap major dividends down the road when managing GCs and Architects in the future.
You won't be exposed to the fundraising/investment management/deal-making side of the business, but that can be learned fairly easily and executed better having background in construction. It's much easier to raise money if you can confidently sell investors on your ability to manage the construction process (because it's 80% of the cost of a project), than being a finance bro or deal-junkie broker (coming from a current land broker).
Thank you!
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