Switching from AM at Normal Developer to Development at Nonprofit
I'm currently at a mid size developer in a primary market working in asset management. Have about 9 years of experience post college in a few different roles, currently senior associate probably getting bumped to AVP at the end of the year. I recently received and offer to come an join a very active nonprofit affordable housing developer. I know their team well and have worked with them on JV deals before. It's a legit well regarded company with a very active pipeline. The compelling part of the offer is basically that my role there would focus on acquisitions and development work, which I find interesting and have been trying to move over to for a while. I don't dislike AM but have been doing it for a long time and feel like I have learned enough to move on. I would still be covering a lot of these responsibilities but the role would be focused on development. I find the development process a lot more interesting and exciting and would like to head in that direction long term.
Very conflicted on wether to take this - hoping to get some advice from the veterans on here or anyone that followed a similar path.
Pros:
- Will get a lot of experience with LIHTC (important to me since one of my long term goals is to start my own shop and LIHTC is one of the best ways to do this with limited capital)
- Recent political changes in my city will make it a great time to work in a nonprofit. Hopefully would be able to get a lot of deals under my belt quickly.
- Leadership there knows + respects me and I will have more responsibility and decision making power. My current team is great but the rest of the company treats us like glorified accountants / property managers
- As an optimist I like the mission and believe that this kind of work provides an important public service
Cons:
- Stability- AM seems like a much safer bet in this market. Assume i'd be the victim of a 'last one in first one to leave' situation if they ran into financial trouble.
- Assuming comp and upside in the form of incentives / deal participation is limited at Nonprofit
- Have been at current shop for a few years so would be giving up a more comfortable position to start from scratch
- Current shop has more institutional partners / lenders
- AM at a nonprofit is brutally tough work (iykyk), and I would still cover these responsibilities
- Current shop has wider range of assets, from luxury high rise multifamily to affordable, retail and office. So better resume experience in that sense.
If anyone has advice on how to approach this would love to hear it because I am very conflicted. I think it's an higher risk / reward pathway and decision centers around whether I risk getting pigeonholed in AM or risk getting pigeonholed in a niche market (affordable multifamily).
Side note - I'm a very infrequent poster here but have been dropping by this forum to lurk posts / ask for advice every so often since college 9 years ago around when I make major career decisions. It's really cool seeing it still going strong and recognizing some of the same profiles posting. Genuinely grateful to you guys for all the help over the years - kind of wild asking for advice here now a decade into my career when I was on this same website back in college browsing first job info.