The Real Estate Development program is structured to provide a comprehensive understanding of finance and investment, project management, predevelopment analysis, zoning and planning, acquisition underwriting, and the value of design in real estate practices. In recent years, the program has greatly expanded its emphasis on financial investment and strengthened its relevancy in terms of real estate markets, introducing a new real estate technology sequence to the curriculum and increasing the availability of technology resources for research. The curriculum builds its foundational knowledge incrementally over the three terms: the first semester is dedicated to developing solid, core competencies and the majority of classes are required; the second, grants more space to focus on the development of specific industry interests; and the third consists mostly of deep-dive electives offered across GSAPP, Columbia Business School, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, and Columbia Law School. The program culminates in a final Capstone project.
The program’s Capstone class begins with initial group work as students learn about five different active real estate case-study sites, and ends with individual Capstone projects. Students must create their own personalized Capstone “deal-book” (with all the relevant financial information, design proposals, and market analysis data), as well as deliver a presentation and defend their project to an audience of peers, alumni, and faculty.
The Master of Science in Real Estate Development curriculum is bolstered by its proximity to the city and to the real-world opportunities that it offers: Professionals from the real-estate industry in New York City visit campus daily as adjunct professors, alumni mentors, and lunchbox lecture speakers. The program cohort also visits the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in Washington, DC every fall. Approximately a third of individuals in the program complete a part-time spring internship to gain additional work experience in NYC.
