What Is a Development Manager?

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The role of a real estate development manager can have different meanings and encompass different responsibilities depending on the development company.  A development manager is usually an employee of a developer and is responsible for overseeing and managing real estate development projects from inception to completion.

 

At some companies, a development manager is primarily only a construction manager - managing and overseeing the design and construction of a project. At others, his or her range of responsibility can vary widely, including: business development, site selection, financial modeling, contract review, land entitlement, budgeting, financing, design and construction oversight, project turnover/closeout, asset management, and property sales.

 

Some developers, especially smaller ones, will perform all the duties and functions of a development manager mentioned above out of necessity or preference, being a jack of all trades.  Smaller developers may not have enough employees for individuals to only specialize in certain aspects of the development process.

 

However, at most development companies there are different team members who specialize in different parts of the development process. For example, the person who creates the financial model is typically not the same person who oversees the construction. The skill sets, experience levels, and personal dispositions needed for those roles are usually too varied for one person to execute both well.

 

At development companies with different specialized in-house employees (or contracted development services providers) the development manager is only one part of the team. By way of example, a development team may include:

• a broker or principal who sources (finds) a development deal

• a financial analyst who financially models the development (summarizing expenses and earnings in a spreadsheet to calculate the financial return of doing the deal).

• a pre-development specialist who focuses on site selection, land entitlement, contract review/negotiation, and early budgeting

• usually one or all of the above three members helps to secure financing for the development

• a design and construction manager

• an asset manager or property manager who takes over responsibility for the building upon completion

 

In the context of this website, the development manager primarily focuses on the construction of the building. But their responsibilities and duties do, however, bleed over into some of the other specialties mentioned above. Also, there are literally hundreds of tasks that the development manager must ensure happen before construction starts, but are not directly construction tasks. In short, a development manager is usually a tactician - someone who is good at developing and executing a plan to making things happen.

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