I'm currently interning at a smallish developer in Dallas (Dec '18 grad). It's my first RE job and I ultimately want to land at a REPE or something in the capital markets when I graduate.
I ran into an MD at Cypress at the gym during lunch (didn't know who he was at the time), turns out he knows a development manager at my shop, called him to ask about me, and offered me a spot for the fall (I also have a standing offer to come back to my current shop during the fall). My worry is that I'll get stuck in development and not learn as much doing development again in the fall.
It's a significantly bigger development shop than I'm at, but I have a buddy in investment sales who just recommended me to some friends of his at Berkadia, Northmarq, and HFF.
Should I take the bird in the hand, or try to land something else, learn a different business segment and diversify my resume?
Oh the horrors of being in development and learning the skillset that could allow you to become rich in your 20s or early 30s.
Didn't mean for my tone to come across that way.
I worked road construction full-time out of high school and was doing that until a few years ago. I'm not complaining about this decision, it's a great choice to have to make.
Don't they just do retail? Want to say a lot of it is grocery anchored stuff, which is fine, but not what I'd think of as super exciting. HFF team there is really strong across the board, and you should have good exits coming out of there. Never worked with the Berkadia team there or anywhere; never really think of them as a strong shop (maybe the multifamily team in houston that left CBRE). Northmarq would be good experience, and I remember their Dallas team being strong.
My two cents, is that if you want to own or develop real estate is that you should stick with the development company. That being said, this is obviously a personal decision and you need to weigh all of your options and pick the one that is best for your situation.
My understanding from a co-worker who started at Cypress is that they are mixed-use guys whose core competency is retail.
A buddy who is currently with our capital markets team started in Dallas' Northmarq office and said it was a great office.
That sounds right, mixed-use is a term that gets bandied around a lot so I would just be clear on what that means in this instance.
Yeah, they do a lot of Crow Holdings work and are pretty sharp (we were on the other side of a complicated transaction from them) and performed well.
Yeah Cypress is definitely a retail shop but they do have mixed-use, "lifestyle center" projects.
I don't know them personally but my colleagues do very well and some of them have done deals with these guys. They said nothing but good things.
Have experience with them back when I first started in CRE +-10yrs ago. The have some sharp guys, but they were heavy into power center/lifestyle center development before moving into mixed use. Had some pretty good turnover in their leasing team. They have semi-righted the ship, but they have some dogs in their book as well.
Personally at your age I would go with HFF if you can swing an offer. Dallas office is very strong and you'll get a lot of experience to prep you for buyside later. I think your current internship at a small developer is sufficient at this stage. Honing your underwriting skills is crucial; I wish I had done it sooner.
EDIT: Just saw this thread is 5 years old but advice applies to any other college folks.
Dont know Cypress too well but they've hit a couple of their recent multi-family developments out of the park.
You might be thinking about a different Cypress (CEI). They are the multi development shop based in LA .
Animi odit quia nihil et saepe. Odit beatae ratione illo sint. Commodi eum natus molestiae quia perspiciatis mollitia sunt delectus.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...