Commercial real estate projects require more than hard hats and hammers. While the building component is an essential piece of the puzzle, a project’s success truly hinges upon careful planning at each stage.
This is why it’s important to foster the next generation of real estate project managers. College graduates with a degree in real estate, real estate management, construction management or business can pursue a career path in real estate project management. In the context of construction, this work focuses on how projects are planned and executed from beginning to end. This often includes creating a schedule and budget, overseeing contractors and vendors, obtaining permits and managing risks.
Many candidates start in one of two pathways:
- Development analysts: Perform analyses into the market and its demographics as well as finances, and conduct due diligence for the site.
- Assistant project managers: Assist project managers with planning and close-out, keeping tabs on the budget, overseeing change orders and communicating with internal teams and contractors.
Real Estate Project Management Skills
- Organization: Create schedules and keep track of each stage of construction to ensure coordination among teams.
- Communication: Walk stakeholders through the project’s goals and details, and provide frequent updates about its progress throughout.
- Risk Management: Pinpoint issues that could arise in each segment of the project, and create strategies for risk reduction
- Financial Competency: Predcit potential costs from the jump; put together a plan for how to allocate the budget, keep tabs on spending and take steps to pinpoint and correct any discrepancies.
What Comes After Graduation
A development analyst or assistant project manager would continue on to become a project manager, who may juggle multiple tasks or even multiple projects at the same time. From there, they may move up into executive-level roles like a construction director, who oversees the whole construction process.
