Program Overview
The Development Analyst Program is designed to take students beyond real estate theory and into the work performed by analysts on actual development projects.
You’ll follow the development process from initial site screening and feasibility through acquisition, design, financing, construction, stabilization or sellout, and investment reporting.
Throughout the program, you’ll build models, evaluate deals, work through real-world development scenarios and learn how to communicate your analysis the way an analyst would inside a development firm.
By the end of the program, you'll be able to:
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Explain how a development project moves from site identification and acquisition through entitlements, construction, stabilization, refinancing or sellout
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Analyze market demand, competitive supply, comparable properties, absorption and site characteristics
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Translate zoning, site constraints and market demand into a preliminary development program
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Evaluate land pricing, acquisition terms, preliminary feasibility and residual land value
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Build and interpret a development budget, sources and uses, and monthly cost-spend forecast
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Develop rental, lease-up, operating, absorption, sales and stabilization assumptions
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Structure a preliminary capital stack and analyze construction debt, equity requirements and interest carry
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Build, audit and interpret a monthly development underwriting model
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Analyze project returns, sensitivities, break-even points and downside scenarios
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Identify material market, entitlement, design, construction, financing and execution risks
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Review development budgets, schedules, change orders, construction draws and cost-to-complete forecasts
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Understand how architects, engineers, contractors, consultants, attorneys, lenders and investment partners contribute to a development
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Recommend whether a development opportunity should be pursued, revised, deferred or rejected
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Present a development opportunity through a professional underwriting model, investment memorandum and investment presentation
What You'll Learn
How the Program Works
The Development Analyst Program is structured around the way analysts encounter a development opportunity in the real world.
You won’t simply learn individual concepts in isolation. You’ll see how acquisition, underwriting, design, construction, financing and investment decisions connect throughout the life of a project.
Examples and case studies are drawn from multiple property types so you can understand how development analysis changes depending on the deal.
Development Foundations
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Module 1 — Real Estate Development & the Analyst’s Role
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Module 2 — Market Analysis & Site Screening
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Module 3 — Land Acquisition, Zoning, Entitlements & Due Diligence
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Module 4 — Development Concept, Design & Programming
Development Economics
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Module 5 — Development Budgets & Sources and Uses
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Module 6 — Development Schedules, Construction & Procurement Fundamentals
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Module 7 — Revenue, Operations, Lease-Up & Sellout
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Module 8 — Development Financing, Capital Stack & Partnership Economics
Development Underwriting
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Module 9 — Building & Auditing the Integrated Development Model
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Module 10 — Risk, Sensitivities, Break-Evens & Decision-Making
Project Execution & Communication
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Module 11 — Executing & Monitoring a Development
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Module 12 — Investment Committee & Development Recommendation
Program Curriculum
The program is built around applied work designed to simulate the responsibilities of a real development analyst.
Site Screening & Feasibility Analysis
Evaluate whether an opportunity warrants additional time, diligence and investment.
Development Budget & Sources and Uses
Build the capitalization of a development project and understand where project capital is being spent.
Development Underwriting
Model project cash flows, development costs, financing, revenue and investment returns.
Sensitivity & Downside Analysis
Evaluate how changes in costs, timing, pricing, financing and other assumptions affect project feasibility.
Development Execution Exercises
Work through construction budgets, project schedules, lender draws and other materials analysts encounter during project execution.
Investment Committee Analysis
Turn detailed financial and qualitative analysis into a clear investment recommendation.
You'll Do the Work -- Not Just Watch
Take a deal from Sourcing to Investment Committee.
The capstone is designed to bring together everything you’ve learned throughout the program.
You will evaluate three development opportunities and take each deal through the analytical process a development team would use when determining whether to pursue an investment.
You Will:
Review & Screen the Opportunities
Determine which deals warrant further analysis.
Build the Underwriting
Evaluate development costs, revenue assumptions, financing and projected investment returns.
Identify Key Risks
Analyze the major factors that could affect project feasibility and returns.
Compare the Opportunities
Evaluate the relative strengths, weaknesses and risk-adjusted return profile of each deal.
Select a Deal to Pursue
Determine which opportunity you believe should move forward.
Prepare Your Investment Recommendation
Turn your analysis into clear investment committee materials.
Present & Defend Your Recommendation
Explain why you selected the deal and respond to questions about your assumptions, risks and conclusions.
Students will have the opportunity to present their capstone recommendation to CRE Career Institute and other commercial real estate professionals.
The goal is to give you live experience presenting an investment opportunity, answering the types of questions principals ask and receiving direct feedback you can take into interviews and your career.
Development Analyst Capstone
Video Instruction
Learn concepts directly and see how they apply throughout the development process.
Excel Modeling
Build and work through the financial analysis development analysts are expected to understand.
Real-World Documents
Gain exposure to the types of documents, reports, and materials used throughout actual development projects.
Case Studies
Apply concepts across multiple development strategies and property types.
Knowledge Checks
Reinforce your understanding throughout the program.
Applied Exercises
Practice completing the analytical work rather than simply learning the terminology.
Capstone Project
Bring the entire program together through a comprehensive development investment analysis.
What's Included
The Development Analyst Program is designed for:
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College students pursuing development internships or analyst positions
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Students preparing for commercial real estate recruiting
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Recent graduates looking to develop practical development experience
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Early-career professionals looking to strengthen their development skill set
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Candidates preparing for technical interviews
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Anyone who understands CRE fundamentals and wants to learn how development deals actually get done
Who This Program is For