To the veterans: What was institutional dev actually like during the last bull run?

I’ve spent my recent dev internships at a couple of REITs and institutional shops, and the room constantly feels heavy. Every meeting ends up turning into a post-mortem on why a deal no longer pencils, how high debt costs killed a pro forma, or why another project is getting mothballed. For the senior guys and veterans who’ve been through multiple real estate cycles, I’m curious what institutional development actually looked like when times were good.

For the veterans who’ve been through previous cycles, I’m curious what office culture and day-to-day morale were actually like when times were good. Was the vibe in the building night-and-day when cheap capital made deals pencil effortlessly? Did the energy feel genuinely exciting when teams were greenlighting starts rather than endlessly running downside sensitivities and killing deals?

Also, on the comp side: how high did bonus pools, carry, and co-investment payouts realistically get for dev teams during those peak years? Did junior talent see much faster promotion tracks when project volume was booming? Would love to hear some stories or perspective from previous bull runs so I know what to look forward to when the cycle flips back around (hopefully lol).