Residential Development Class “Homes In” on Rochester Site
During the spring semester, Program in Real Estate (PRE) students put theory into practice in the Residential Development class. This class involves an in?depth exploration and analyses of the residential development process from site acquisition through marketing and sale of the finished product. Major topics include residential market analysis, site selection, entitlement to use and regulatory processing, product selection and design, land planning, land valuation and acquisition, project feasibility analysis and financing, project scheduling and budgetary controls, contracting and construction issues, marketing, and sales.
Previous classes have worked on sites in Sayreville, NJ and Philadelphia to name a few.
This year’s class will be working on an infill site in the Greater Rochester region. The class traveled to the site last week. In Rochester students spent time walking the site and adjoining properties and also met the property managers before touring other projects in the neighborhood.
Course Instructor Pike Oliver said, “The students experience the process in the same fashion as a very disciplined developer/builder. They begin by touring the proposed site and surrounding community and prepare a market study. Then they move on to a creating a strategy for securing planning, zoning and environmental approvals. After that, they define the product concept and prepare financial projections. Then the students move on to crafting the site plan and refining the product mix as well as preparing a comprehensive feasibility analysis. At the end of the semester, the students present their final recommendations plus their proposed land purchase price and deal terms to the property owner.”
Students in this course participate in project teams and their efforts culminate in a presentation to the property owner. The project teams are comprised of students from diverse backgrounds and courses of study, namely Real Estate, Regional Planning and Business Management. Industry experts are also invited as guest lecturers during the semester to enrich the students’ knowledge by sharing real-world experiences.
Nicholas Noyes, MPSRE and MBA ’13 says “I’m excited for the prospect of undertaking a real estate development project from start to finish with a talented team of my peers, and under the guidance of an experienced developer like Pike. I’m sure it will be a lot of work, but I’m equally certain that we’ll learn a lot, and that’s what we’re here for.”
The class is taught by Senior Lecturer Pike Oliver. For roughly three decades in the development field, Mr. Oliver gained experience by owning his own firm or working for larger development companies. Earlier in his career, he worked for municipal and state government agencies. He currently serves as a director and treasurer of the California-based Center for Natural Lands Management and as an adviser to the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. He received his B.A. in urban studies at San Francisco State University in 1970, and his M.A. in urban planning from the University of California-Los Angeles in 1974. In addition to teaching, Mr. Oliver is also responsible for industry outreach for Cornell’s Program in Real Estate.