This course provides an overview of the real estate development business looked at in relationship to urban design, city planning, and architectural design. It provides exposure to the many real-world considerations of private sector development as well as an introduction to the language of real estate. The class focuses on various commercial building types and product offerings with examples of how planning, architectural and other design professions fit into creation of real estate value and the development process. This will cover the practical considerations and typical trade-offs of commercial business practices and real estate investment parameters and how these influence the ways developers and designers work. Industry sectors may include housing (single, multifamily and affordable), office, retail, hospitality, and industrial, with project types ranging from greenfield, adaptive reuse, downtown development, mixed-use projects, and planned communities. Through exercises, lectures and case studies, we'll address what drives the decisions designers and non-designers make in the development process, and provide insight to help designers understand what makes developers tick. Visiting lecturers (typically architects and developers) will provide real-world examples. Weekly written exercises, case studies and presentation assignments stress critical thinking, evaluating projects by how well they do their job and analyzing how that job is defined.
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