I recently secured an entry-level development job for after UG graduation. The job is with an established, well-respected development company in a major market, and focuses primarily on the qualitative aspects of the development process (i.e. managing architects, GC, consultants, VE, design vision) - like a project management role but more big-picture. I understand that this role is different form most entry-level development roles, which focus on underwriting and are very modeling heavy. Can anyone speak to how this role will set me up down the road in my career? Am I missing out by not starting out in a modeling role? Are there any advantages or disadvantages of starting out in my role? Thanks.
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Agree with pretty much everything the others have said on this thread. Only nuance is that at some point you will have to learn the financial/underwriting side of it, but not for the sake of 'knowing how to model'. There are three main activities which you will have to learn if you want to go out on your own, over and above the actual, physical development side of the business:
1) Site selection. You need to be able to understand the economics of a given site and how much potential money you will make on the site, and potential $ pitfalls/risks of the site at both a macro and micro level. Your experience actually developing/managing these properties will help immensely, but you'll still need to be able to quantify this and be able to articulate it, since it's a huge part of point 2. Not to mention you'll have to go through (or manage) the DD process during the acquisition process at some point once you get to the upper tiers of the career track.
2) Capital raising & partnership structuring. You can have a lot of experience actually managing the development process, but at some point at the upper echelons of this business you're going to need to convince people to give you money and trust that you're going to earn them an attractive return on their investment. To do this, you'll need to be able to articulate your strategy and quantify things, and portray sophistication. You don't need to be a PhD in real estate economics to be able to do this, but you will need at least an intermediate understanding of both the local market economics and broader capital markets. You'll also need to be very savvy on the financial side in order to structure a partnership agreement that is airtight and makes you money. I've seen a lot of JV agreements go sideways because one party on the LP or GP side did not read the fine print/failed to understand the nuances of the agreement. There are a lot of ways to structure a waterfall, especially if you're dealing with varied capital sources/partners. It's critically important to understand the difference. You'll also need to be able to do this to potential lenders on the property.
3) Performance monitoring. This seems like an obvious one, but you'll have to have at least a baseline understanding of asset management/portfolio management and how the P&L flows through from property revenue all the way to CFAD, so you can track the cash flow disbursement accordingly. Being able to speak effectively to returns (both positively and negatively) will be a huge help in keeping investors in the loop and simultaneously prepping for another round of capital raising.
So TL;DR version is that you have a great gig in front of you, you won't be 'missing out' on anything by taking the gig, but you will have to learn the financial side down the line, but it's not rocket science. With a little time and effort you'll be able to pick it up, but it is a necessary component of the job, especially if going out on your own. Most development shops have multiple people that compartmentalize many of these tasks, but it's important to at least be minimally versed in all of them.