Construction Management to Development

I work for a large general contractor / construction management firm, and would like to dive into the real estate development world. It appears that a number of professionals with my background (engineering degree/ construction experience) have made the leap to the CRE industry.

I see that there are jobs listed at large companies such as CBRE or JLL as project manager with a construction focus. I honestly never really looked at these companies as "developers" - am I mistaken?

 
Best Response

I did the transition. CB and JLL are such big companies, they provide an array of real estate services. One of those services is project management/construction management "in house". You become an owners rep for a large (or small) tenant wanting to do a new BTS building or move into an existing building (heavy TI). This role is more in line with what you are probably used to right now. IMO its more of the same Corporate life and a long ladder to climb with little upside. I know other guys that transitioned and do this. They are using the same skills from the CM world and are applying here as an owners rep. They are not learning the entrepreneurial side of the business or the finance side and thats ok for them cause thats what they want to do.

A 'developer' will be the entity that either owns/operates the final product and then leases it out to someone or they can be a fee or merchant developer only. For the sake of conversation, I'll talk about the traditional developer who owns and operates the building. They are spending 'their' money (mostly raised through investors) and will share the success or failure of the development (financially I am talking). The company can be large or small and develop speculatively or through a BTS. The role at a firm like this is not the same everywhere. I bet if you ask 10 developers here what they do their roles will differ 10 times. Some firms will have "CM" guys and "Development" guys. Other firms they are the same...and some do leasing too! (smaller firms?). You have to ask yourself what you want to do as the position you apply for will depend on that. Personally, I had interest and knowledge in the finance side and I wanted big picture, my hands on everything. Why? Because I want to gather all the skills where I can go do this myself or I can take this somewhere else for a more senior position. I am involved with land and opportunity procurement, City meetings, entitlements, environmental reviews, design coordination, permitting, vertical construction, tenant coordination as well as the financial side of it in talking or being part of the conversations with our national tenants, and debt and equity sources. In this type of role you 'should' see better upside in general IMO. But there is also greater risk that comes with this. So in short, CB/JLL are not 'developers' but more consultants. They represent the tenants that want space so you would help implement those new Build to Suit buildings or TI's for the client. If you are just starting your exploration of this field, you can to dig into each firms operation, which is pretty easy just from checking out their website.

 

Great response. I specifically would like to be involved in the project development process ... due diligence, procurement, entitlements, design review and coordination, construction , etc. as you have described your position. In my current position, I haven't done any of this, but believe it would be relatively quick to grasp based on my experiences in the gc/cm world.

Companies like CBRE or JLL may be a little bit of a bridge for someone like me who has not worked in "Real Estate". I'm in my late twenties, and think the time is now to switch industries if I'm thinking about it. I would prefer a smaller dedicated development/investment company.

How did the transition go for you and did you have to 'start over'? Having better real estate financial skills is a goal of mine. I am reaching out to real estate development companies & REITs but have not a lot of luck.

 

As stated above, CBRE and JLL are corporate behemoths in real estate and started as brokerage houses. They gradually expanded their business models to include an a la carte menu of services so that clients can go to them for almost everything real estate related. The role you're talking about will be facilitating tenant improvements and other interior buildouts of properties the firm's own.

 

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