Commercial real estate is without doubt a male-dominated industry, even more so at the decision-making level. Even with the emergence of organizations such as New England Women in Real Estate in the past decade, the percentage of women in the industry remains decidedly low. But there is room for women to succeed here, even if their background is in a completely different field.
I came into the development field in August 1991, after spending most of the 1980s working on Wall Street in the finance industry. At the time I came along, the commercial real estate market was at its absolute nadir. It seems to have been an odd time for someone to launch a career in the industry. And for a woman to abruptly change careers and enter such a male-dominated industry during a decidedly slow period is even stranger still. But I felt that I had a responsibility to do whatever was in my power to help with the family business.
Having background and experience in the financial industry, which is also a male-dominated industry, most recently as a bond salesperson, my primary responsibility upon entering the development industry lay in managing the finance and investments of the company and bringing new ideas to intensify our efforts to find new tenants. In 1991, the difficulty in maintaining existing tenants and attracting new ones made covering expenses a particularly difficult challenge for real estate firms. Because of these conditions, I was able to focus my efforts on those aspects of the development industry – in my case, sales and finance – where my skills and background were most advantageous. At the same time, due to the constantly changing nature of the industry, I was constantly learning new skills that apply to other areas of commercial development.
Playing the Part
I’m lucky to be a part of a mid-sized company, where the opportunity exists for a person to wear many different hats of responsibility, sometimes even within the same day. As a new development progresses from planning and design to permitting and construction, completion and occupancy, different skills and areas of expertise are constantly called into play. This is where the biggest challenge – and hence, biggest reward – lies: in developing new areas of your own expertise that can be called on in many different areas of the development cycle.
This continuous cycle is what keeps the industry fresh and constantly rewarding for people who are involved in it. As a project begins, the initial phases call for knowledge of land use, design and zoning laws as well as local political climate. Environmental impact studies, traffic studies, soil conditions, civil-engineering planning and design are other areas of the initial phase that call upon their own particular set of skills. Again, these are most likely areas where you rely on experts in the respective fields, but experience, problem solving skills, and team selection and coordination are essential in making good judgements and keeping the project on track. Whether you possess the specific skills or rely on good sound business judgement and experience, either way, the result is rewarding, as you see problems solved and your vision articulated into a concrete and finalized design.
Process of Creation
For me, the most exciting part of the development industry comes during the actual construction phase. Visiting a construction site, seeing concepts and ideas turn into reality on a daily basis, is a very gratifying experience. It’s the process of creation, of taking a raw piece of land and turning it into something that can be occupied, fits in with the skyline and generates tangible rewards. Obviously, this phase involves very specific skill sets involving the building’s construction. But again, other skills are called into play. Cost analysis and comparison of proposals is a very important step in the process, and budgeting and financing skills are crucial. Team selection is perhaps the most critical factor in ensuring a relatively smooth development process.
Simultaneously with the design and development phases, marketing and market analysis take place. Identifying the type of user or knowing the specific user for the property is crucial to the design. Finding tenants for the space requires a new set of skills, most notably, sales and marketing. You are, after all, selling a tenant on the idea that your new building is the place to do business. Sometimes, depending on the scope and profile of the project, a building is largely leased even before its completion. But regardless of a building’s size, it needs a talented team of marketing and sales people in order to be occupied.
Throughout the entire development process, new skills are constantly needed. No matter what your background, it’s nearly impossible to work in the development industry without acquiring new skills of your own. And as the cycle begins again with a new project, the results of the previous one are what fuels you to take on the risk and challenges inherent in the development process. Whether it’s witnessing the completion of a single project from concept to occupancy, or the revitalization of an entire town over many years through a series of projects, the cycles of real estate development present the opportunity to utilize professional skills from a myriad of backgrounds. More than that, it’s the ever-present opportunity to feel as though you’re contributing to something larger overall. In this business, your ideas get implemented and they’re right there for you to see. It’s a feeling that is unique to the industry.
