Real estate developers are the impresarios of the built environment. They orchestrate the talents of many players and balance the needs and interests of the various constituents touched by a real estate project. It is their job to discover how we want to live and work and to provide the settings accordingly. In many ways, real estate professionals are the creators of the urban landscape, working within a complex system of finance and governance to tackle the challenge of converting undeveloped or under-utilized resources into homes, employment centers, and places of recreation and commerce. With the excitement of finding place-based solutions to the unique set of problems presented by a real estate project, there also are the risks, rewards, and responsibilities that come with making our built environments more habitable and prosperous. With greater frequency, community groups, government agencies, other property owners, and even the media are becoming involved in the development process. The capital markets, political and regulatory context, and major players change so rapidly that it is difficult to remain informed, let alone competitive. To deal with the complexity of the field and its far-reaching effects, today’s real estate professionals require advanced training to prepare them to operate in increasingly technical and interrelated areas.

Career in related fields.