Welcome Back, Harbor Yards

New online cohorts for Fundamentals of CRE kick off February 10th

On February 10th, Thesis Driven is bringing back its inaugural course: Fundamentals of Commercial Real Estate—online. Go here to learn more and sign up.

Feedback from 100+ students who joined course cohorts in 2024:

“The single most effective way to fast track your success in CRE.” Tiana Z

“Excellent course that guides you through a fictional case study with detailed explanation of every single step/process involved for all personas at every stage of Real Estate deal. I highly recommend enrolling in this course to help you either invest in real estate or build products/product development.” Darshana J

“Brad and Paul opened my eyes to how real estate deals get put together, where incentives lie, and how we might create business cases for proptech and climate tech into these transactions. Great stuff!” Chris N

“A great way to get an inside look at the commercial real estate industry and learn directly from top-tier CRE insiders. The course is perfect for anyone who's working in and around the real estate industry - from a new founder who needs to understand how their product or service fits in the industry to an early-to-mid-career professional who's looking for an opportunity to tie it all together. Highly recommend.” Clark P

“As somebody brand new to commercial real estate, Brad and Paul did a fantastic job quickly demystifying an entire field in a way that feels accessible. They did so all the while keeping us engaged at each step of the way and connecting us to a great cohort of peer learners.” Adam B

“I can only recommend this class. Paul and Brad did an amazing job at going through the complexity of a CRE deal through a well detailed use case: I particularly found relevant the sections on the pro forma analysis, capital stack and budgets but they also went through the dynamic of the relations between each character which is quite important to understand what benefits each. They also took the time to answer all our questions and was impressed by their knowledge.” Yoann P

“Incredible course to get a high level understanding of commercial real estate that's otherwise inaccessible and behind closed doors.” Shashank K

“This course was a great primer for understanding the CRE ecosystem. It emphasized that the involved stakeholders and their motivations are just as important to understand as how the numbers in a deal pencil. Although I have a strong background in CRE myself, it was incredibly beneficial for me to sharpen my knowledge of the industry as I pivot into the proptech space. Thank you Brad and Paul!” Alana F

Welcome Back to Harbor Yards

The format is a five-week online bootcamp with weekly cohort Zoom discussions and Q&A. We take a case-based learning approach around a fictional mixed-use project, Harbor Yards–a mostly vacant, 200,000 square foot office complex being redeveloped into a mixed-use community with office space, retail, and apartments.

It follows the trials and tribulations of eight characters who acquire, redevelop, operate and sell Harbor Yards over a five-year period.

By understanding each player’s incentives—financial and otherwise—participants will get a practical, hands-on grasp of how the commercial real estate industry works.

• Welcome to Harbor Yards - Meet the Harbor Yards deal, key stakeholders, and their roles & responsibilities for the big project

• The Harbor Yards Business Plan - Underwrite the Harbor Yards deal and learn why unlevered yield on cost (UYOC) will determine whether to acquire the site

• Getting Capital from Investors - Calculate the project IRR and understand how it is used to source the debt and equity needed to bring Harbor Yards to life

• Operating Plan - Walk through all the contracts & budgets that drive the decision-making and KPIs for the team

• Day in the Life - Meet in detail the asset manager, property manager, and leasing agents and understand their personal goals, keys to success and professional pain points

• Selling Harbor Yards - Walk through different scenarios for the sale and understand how much money each stakeholder makes in the end

• Epilogue - Work with your peers to apply what you learned to a “Phase 2” Harbor Yards project, then present your business plans to the group!

Interested? Visit our courses site to learn more about the program.

Who is this for?

We’ve found the course to be particularly valuable to anyone looking to learn more about commercial real estate, but particularly:

• Proptech employees and executives - Anyone selling into the real estate industry needs to fundamentally understand the space, including major roles and how real estate companies make money. This course tackles these topics head-on with actionable insights and real scenarios.

• Employees of real estate companies without real estate backgrounds - Some attendees in our first course worked at real estate companies (developers and investors) but didn’t come from real estate backgrounds. The course gave them critical context for their day-to-day roles.

• GMs of brick-and-mortar businesses - Operators running businesses in the real world need to understand how real estate works to navigate lease negotiations, plan expansion, and work with their landlord. The course will provide GM-level operators with the context they need.

Course attendees will come away with a fundamental understanding of how a commercial real estate project is acquired, redeveloped, operated and sold.

They’ll also learn to read a pro forma, building budget and lease; understand the relationship between a “GP” and “LP”; and be armed with a new vocabulary of industry lingo.

What does it cost?

The online bootcamp is $999. Sign up here.

—Paul Stanton and Brad Hargreaves