Trammell Crow Development Associate Comp
Hi all, curious if anyone here can help shed some light on this. Have a relative at TC that has suggested I look into TC since it aligns with my career interests and I have a background that could be a good fit. He has stated that I would likely be coming in at an associate level on his team if I apply and am offered a position. Unfortunately I can’t ask him this directly but he says the pay is “very good”. So I am curious what that looks like at the associate level.
For some background on me, I majored in an engineering discipline at a HSW, and spent my first few years/summers focused on construction/civil engineering before switching to a more analytical path starting out of college. So that is where my interest stems from
I know info is widely available about REPE/IB/PE etc etc but not a ton on what comp looks like for this type of role. Would I need to take a large haircut moving into this role? (Currently at 170), or is it going to be a more lateral move.
Thanks in advance
Would you be on the dev manager side or d & I? If latter, I would expect you to be around the $170 all in that you're currently getting.
Del
Any idea how the cash comp scales for senior associate, VP, SVP, etc? I understand that at TCC you get carry around the VP level, which can be all over the place, but what does the annual cash comp look like as you climb the ranks?
You’re probably looking to get a quantified answer so this probably isn’t helpful, but Trammel crow and crow holdings pay investment and development staff below market. Not sure if much has changed since the swings in labor demand over the past 18-24 months. If I had to guess based on recent convos with people in recruiting processes, I would say they still pay under market. Think of market as Hines, tishman, brookfield, etc. seems like the trade off for a lot people (in Dallas) is Crow’s legacy, unique office space, chiller hours, good culture, etc. Not sure if those are premiums for you. All in all, If you're out of undergrad, or doing a 180 without business school or a masters degree in development, this is probably something to really look into. They have a great reputation, especially in development. Anyways, do not expect 170 all-in over there as an associate.
TCC doesn’t pay below institutional Dev comp. Crow/TCR, sure, you’re getting a haircut but TCC is in line or above.
This is helpful. Any tips on where to start as far as studying / prep? I have some baseline RE knowledge but nothing too extensive, and my relevant background experience is more construction focused than investing focused
In terms of knowledge this section WSO - Real Estate is good for topics on development and overall real estate interview prep questions. Development could be based on understanding what to look at when underwriting a ground up/value add deal (hard and soft costs, yield on cost, and other metrics). Since you already have a baseline I am assuming you've covered basic finance topics and general real estate knowledge in Linneman's textbook, that is a textbook usually recommended. Know their recent deals, know the market, have an opinion on where things are going and why, where would you invest $100mm today and why (understand where they are in the capital stack on their deals), know the capital stack and what returns you can expect, have an good grasp on where interest rates are and how that would affect the asset class. But can't recommend enough the real estate section great lists of questions in the interview threads and if you have questions there is usually a thread with good responses you can look through to give you insight.
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Updating this: Had a call that touched on comp. Quoted number to me was ~90s +~10, with a supposed fast track to senior associate which is a "significant" bump. Obviously a significant cut to my current role, but I'm okay with at least somewhat of a haircut. What are the odds I can bump them up to ~115-120 + bonus? Feel like I'm comfortable with that, but having to take a 60k+ paycut would be pretty hard to swallow for me.
Not intimal familiar with TCC, if the comp follows what I would expect the senior associate bump would be substantial but the "real" money will come on the promotion after that.
Any way I could DM you or get on a call?
How big of a change of job function is this for you? If you're in acquisitions/development elsewhere already you should use your current salary to negotiate higher.
Del
I can add some additional contexts as I know individuals at TCC.
1) Fantastic shop in my opinion and if you dig in to see their pipeline, one of the largest developers in nation. Not sure why they don't get as much attention on WSO as Tishman/Hines/Related because at least the people I have met here seem very friendly/hard-working and don't have as "toxic" culture as some firms mentioned before.
2) You will grind relative to other Development shops - I can only speak for people at Senior Associate level but I know buddies who are consistently working past 9 PM I would say 2+ days a week. However, I would view this as glass half full because you are able to chase a lot of deals even in this environment. They use CBRE's balance sheet to fund pre-development costs so cost of capital is very low.
3) Senior Associate Comp - I know at least one individual quoted at $140K base and I know their bonuses are very healthy relative to industry. I had heard through grapevine that one senior associate in one of east coasts offices raked in +300K in last year. Keep in mind though, I don't think they are able to put equity in deals but total comp is high. Again, relative to other development shops $140K base is top of market and typically $10-$30K higher than associate level comp, at least Post-MBA.
My two cents - if you get the opportunity - take it and run full speed with it. Fantastic opportunity and you could essentially go anywhere in RE after.
Best of luck
Any way I could DM you or get on a call?
Not hating but realistically you have 0 years of dev experience and are only getting the job because of your relative. Most would not be at that pay level with your experience.
With that being said, given your unique situation, why not go for it and consider anything north of $100k gravy.
If you’re dead set on Development you’ll be in a great spot, one of the top firms in the industry, where pay will ramp up quickly once you gain real experience and prove yourself.
Aware of all of that, hence my willingness to take a 50k+ paycut. It's just definitely scary to look down a cut from 180k next year to a potential 100k if I end up in the role. Simply hoping to be realistic with expectations.
I hear you. One thing that’s important to note about Development in general is pay at the junior ranks is lower than traditional finance, real estate finance, brokerage, etc.
Just the nature of the business, large knowledge base required across multiple fields, lumpy cash flows, very high learning curve (in truth junior staff no so little at the start that they actually cost the team time/money until after a year or two).
So, would say the most important question is where do you want to be in 5-10 years? Would you rather be early 30s, hopefully by that time a Development Manager/Director, pulling in $200k+ cash with hopefully equity in deals, in a good position to hang your own shingle once you’re balance sheets grown and you have the contacts. Or would you rather stick to finance, probably making $300k+ or more, but not have the entrepreneurial exit option (or at least not as natural of a transition to one).
I think most in Development are in it for the long run and genuinely get a sense of fulfillment from building cool shit. The thought of creating something from nothing is largely why I made the jump from brokerage, where I was making more. To me, the work that you actually do day-to-day, is more varied and exciting than my previous job. Which makes it easier to commit to a full career in the field and avoid burnout, because at the end of the day pay isn’t everything (albeit important).
Hey, I know this is from a year ago but would love to dm you and hear how the role is going for you at TCC now, whether you feel it was the right move for you.
You’ll take a major haircut coming in at associate level. I would think salary + bonus no more than $150k and that would be lucky. You get paid for the experience as they say.
Del
Saw this comment before you deleted it. Let us know if the numbers come back all in around $120 like you suspect.
EDIT: will add this back if I receive an offer. should know tomorrow or the day after
Curious to hear how it went, and what location the comp was for.
Was verbally told to expect an offer in my inbox. No comp figure yet as that was apparently not finalized when I was notified. Extremely excited about this opportunity. Will report back
Got the final offer in writing. They did not move much on base, but the 2022 bonus pays out at full target and they added a larger than expected signing bonus. Y1 comp comes out to ~120k. Very excited, even despite the ~30% cut to my current compensation. RE Development has always been a dream role of mine, so its awesome to see it coming to a reality
Dude that sucks. You would literally be making 150% of that as an AN1 for a MM IB. Just do an MSF program and recruit for BB.
RE Development is a dream job for me (this specific role even moreso, but can't dox myself with what it is) and I don't care about the payCut to chase it.
Can you break this out between base and bonus?
This can’t be all in comp right? How many years of experience do you have?
I’m currently at a family office multi developer with 3 years of exp at large real estate equity transactions shop ($80bn) + 1 year at my current role of dev associate.
$120k base + 30% bonus + ~$25k deal bonus rolled into LP. The $25k deal bonus is pie in the sky though cause it takes 4-5 years to sell a deal now if you’re lucky. I thought I was underpaid
~100k base and ~20k bonus in Y1.
0 YOE in real estate (besides a part-time internship at a tiny shop in my hometown).
2.5 YOE in strategy & analytics at two different banks. 2020 grad
For TCC associate is the entry level role and Sr associate is the post-mba leve from what I understand
Based on LinkedIn of previous hires in the same role looks like 2-2.5yr runway to senior associate
DEL
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