Advanced Real Estate Development and Finance

This course builds on GSD 5204 and comparable introductory real estate courses offered by other schools at Harvard. This year\’s course covers four main topics: (1) advanced financial analysis and deal structuring for land and building development, (2) Debt and equity capital – how to structure a capital proposal and where to go for different types of equity, (3) REITS, public real estate markets, and market cycles, and (4) Buying distressed debt and non-performing loans with emphasis on Asian capital markets.The objective of the course is to give students in-depth financial analytical skills for the dominant forms of real estate financing, fund management, and development. Using case studies and lectures, the course focuses on advanced real estate finance topics for all major real estate product-types including apartments, office, retail, industrial, single-family, and land development. The course also emphasizes financial structuring and key decision-making for all phases of the development process including site selection, due diligence, design, financing, construction, leasing, operations, and sales. The course will be team-taught by four faculty, coordinated by Professor Richard Peiser. Each faculty member is a specialist in the area he is covering in the class. Their course topics, brief descriptions, and emails for contact purposes are the following:Richard Peiser ([email protected]) How to analyze investment returns and structure development deals for income property developments and for land and for-sale housing developments. Topics include land and community development and mixed-use development as well as the 5 stages of income property analysis. Richard Peiser is the Michael D. Spear Professor of Real Estate Development at Harvard Design School.ReadingsProfessional Real Estate Development: the ULI Guide to the Business, 2nd Edition, by Richard Peiser, published by The Urban Land Institute, Washington, D.C., 2003.(PRED)Additional articles and case studies are assigned by the faculty for each class.Assignments and GradingCase studies will be the focus of most class sessions. Students are encouraged to work together in study groups to prepare the cases for discussion and to perform the analytical computations emphasized in each case. Each professor may give homework assignments that are due on the date of the class for which the homework is assigned. They may also take class participation and case presentations into account. There will be a single major term paper that will constitute the major basis for grading apart from class participation and homework. Students will select one of the five faculty members to work with on their term papers. It is expected that they will consult the faculty member at least twice during the term. That faculty member will be responsible for giving the student feedback on the term paper and for issuing a grade. Term projects/papers may be any one of the following: (1) a term paper on a topic selected by the student, (2) preparation of a case study on a complex real estate project. The project may be a either a privately-sponsored or publicly-sponsored project in the United States or abroad, or (3) analyzing a complex deal, fund, or other investment opportunity.