Best path to Development?

How did you land your role?

Seems like a lot start out in brokerage. I always felt that has better exit ops to like Acquisitions at a fund/REPE. My goal is to get with a developer in some sort of way, move on up to maybe eventually VP one day or get my MSRED and eventually branch off on my own with doing small multifamily value add/development.

What CRE_Erector said. I came from the consultant side, and am now a development manager with construction mgmt as my core expertise, but I touch everything from entitlement and financial modeling to operations and Asset Management. Your value in development is all about accrued experience, and experience is not always transferable to other geographic areas and product types. Best to get in young while you are willing and able to start at the bottom, put in the hours, and learn the work by making mistakes.

CRE_Erector:

there really is no "best way" to get into development

/thread

Nice. I'm going to start reaching out to some within my area.

Yes, I Sales will hold you back if you stay too long. The good news is that you're familiar with underwriting deals and with a year of CRE experience you'll be a good candidate for an Associate position at a PE or public developer. I made this move after a year as a jr broker in I Sales and it has turned out well so far.

A word about underwriting... if you don't do it, or you use Argus, take the BIWS excel modeling course and then say on your resume you that that's how you underwrite. That's absolutely essential.

I would network hard which I'm sure you already know being in brokerage. It's definitely going to be tough being at an off market shop. Maybe try and lateral to a more well known shop?

Yeah Development seems different. Lots of lean shops and some firms hire off a project basis.

It wouldn't hurt staying in an analyst type role for a couple years IMO, especially with where we are headed in the cycle. Next step would be to find a good development team, hopefully in your existing shop but if not you have time to look around. If you could find an entry level development role where you could work under a more senior development manager, that would be good experience in the long run if thats what you want to do IMO.

If you like it at CBRE then I would say stay for 3 years or so and go for your MSRED.

pere797 has the right idea with staying analyst. I'd wait until this time next year before looking at anything. I work for a developer right now and construction loans are getting harder and harder to do. Construction costs going up while rent rates are staying stagnant. CBRE is a good firm. Stick it out for the short term. Then I'd start looking at development.

It depends on how big/small you want to go for development. I work for a mid-size developer and it's great. Good interaction w/ the principals. Definitely helps if you want to be a developer one day. Also, I'm only about a year into my career as well and have been with this firm since graduation. From the principals I've worked with, they would laugh if I walked in and started talking about my LEED certification (which I don't have). Maybe that's just their personalities, but I don't think those guys really give a shit about that. Just be you, show you know what the hell is going on with the market, and that you're capable of doing whatever job you're applying for. Check those boxes and you should be alright. Worst case scenario go MSRED and go development then.

Stay with CBRE for at least 2-years(or any job), I agree with what everyone has said about development starting to slow.

2-years is the minimum amount of time it takes you to learn a role and 3-5 years is the sweet spot where you really start to add value.

Congrats on your decision to move to development! I made the transition as well, and it was the best decision I ever made!

I would stay in your current role a little longer, and focus on building your personal brand while you identify places where you'd want to work. It REALLY REALLY matters which development company you choose, so use this time to network and build trust with developers. Except for some of the large corporate shops, development teams tend to be small and to hire infrequently. You'll need to be opportunistic to land the right first job. Best of luck.

Just made the switch into a corporate development role from an analyst then broker role. PM me if you would like.

You definitely need to stay with CBRE for longer than a year though and it shouldn't hurt you to do so, considering where we are right now with loans, vacancies, etc.

I was also an analyst at CBRE for 2 years and recently transitioned to become a development analyst. I was (and still am) blown away by how much there is to learn/know in development, I've been in it for 8 months and still feel like I am just scratching the surface of the iceburg. For this reason I highly reccomend getting in as early as you can if that is where you want to be long term since there is a lifetime worth of knowledge to learn. My experience may be skewed because I work for a regional firm where I am involved with every facet of projects, I would imagine corporate developers streamline their analysts.

From my experience in meetings/interviews with multiple firms (again - all regional, so can't really speak for Hines type companies), entry-level positions are RARE. Since you are still relatively new to the workforce, no amount of LEED or modeling certifications will fool these guys. They know that you know nothing, that you will need 6-12 months to get up to speed and begin adding value. If you recognize this, show that you are very interested and capable of learning, you will eventually find a team that will bring you onboard.

To show your capability, obviously talk about deals you have worked on that relate to the firm's focus. Redact a few financial models and email them as work samples. Create a mock waterfall model and send it to them. These guys dont have time to give you financial modeling or written tests like HFF/Eastdil would do - so be proactive and show them your qualifications. In my market, there are a lot of developers doing $250mm+ projects who do not even have a website - so keep that in mind when you are prospecting for job/firm leads.

Happy to answer any specific questions on how to leverage your CBRE experience to development.

Edit: Everyone is saying stick it out 2 years. I disagree - why would you pass up an opportunity if it came about just because 2 years is the norm? As I mentioned, if development is your long term goal, get in as early as you can.

I spent more than 15 years in development and also spent time at CBRE and my advice is to stick with CBRE for at least another couple years. CBRE is a great name to have on your resume but also a great place to NETWORK with colleagues and clients. As an UW analyst (I assume you work in DSF group?), you're getting a chance to look at deals all over country, dig into the deal, understand the sponsor's investment thesis, see how the capital stack is constructed, learning different markets, etc. All of those skills are critical to being a successful developer. As mentioned above, we're getting toward the end of the cycle and development deals are getting scrutinized harder than ever by equity and debt providers. In a lot of cases, developers are having to go to debt funds to get deals done since typical construction funding sources are pulling back. And if interest rates tick up, who knows what will happen?

Find a mentor at CBRE, get involved with CREW (I assume you're female based on your screen name?), keep your eyes open for internal opportunities at CBRE, etc. You're in a great place so maximize what you can get out of it before you give it up. Good luck!

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that if you find a solid firm that makes solid products and is offering entry-level positions you should take it. Life is too short to bide your time and grind away at a position you don't care about and development analyst role are few and far between as it is. By the time you will have made that transition, chances are you will have worked at CBRE for at least a year too and that's all that really matters.

I'd suggest finding a firm that does both..hence you can learn both acquisition and development skills.. That's what I'm doing right now..it's great..I get extra exposure in both type of markets..I'm mostly from an investment background (MSF+CFA), but development is pretty straight forward..get a good mentor and you'll learn on the spot...

jtl1002:

How is ULI Development book to get knowledge regarding the development process?

There are a couple, but I haven't run into a bad one yet.

The development world is notoriously un-structured and fraternal. It sounds like you are already locked in to getting an MBA, but I think for someone in your position an MSRED would make for an easier transition. That said, it is by no means impossible to break in with your credentials which, while not development related, at least demonstrate intelligence and ambition.

Developers are most likely not recruiting MBAs, so your only realistic avenue is to network your ass off with local developers while in B school, profess your passion for development, and try to get meetings and internships. It will all come down to the relationships you can build and the subsequent experience you can gain from those relationships.

As long as you understand that development positions at reputable shops are few in number and very competitive, go for it. It's going to be an uphill battle but you can make it work. My guess is you will have to network like an animal and expect that it may take about a year to make the transition. At the end of the day, development gives you a lot of flexibility to sell your unique value proposition to an organization. At my shop the development team includes a former investment banker, a former construction guy, and a former leasing brokerage guy. Each brings something unique to the table...find out what that is for you and how to sell it.

Thanks for the input, everyone. In a reasonably large market, what would you guess comp would come out to? I'm trying to see if this is financially feasible in the short term. Obviously, I understand that long term things can change significantly. I am having a hard time finding information on comp for this arena.

That's awesome.

i am exploring all options to just get my foot in the industry. Ideal would be some sort of development analyst out the gate but it seems a lot of these roles are scooped up by people with prior experience. Good to see two people in this thread got a role like that straight out of undergrad.