Advanced Real Estate Development and Finance

Guest instructors: Frank Apeseche, Glenn Mueller, Richard Georgi and Jack Rodman

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; raising money from private equity and other sources (3) REITS, public real estate markets, and market cycles; (4) international fund investment; and (5) Buying distressed debt and non-performing loans with emphasis on Asian and European 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, as well as institutional fund raising, securitization, public markets, and fund management.

The course will be team-taught by five faculty, coordinated by Professor Richard Peiser. Each faculty member is a specialist in the area he is covering in the class. Their course topics and descriptions of content may be found in the syllabus.