Services | J Knott Development

Why the need for a development consultant?

Especially in this time of economic uncertainty and constant change, new developments can be difficult to start or move forward with, or may require strategic repositioning efforts. How can real estate development consultants help optimize financial investment, increase ROI, and minimize risk?

Of the many types of real estate investment projects, real estate development can be the most rewarding. For investors, it has the potential for good ROI. For end users, it can support a business or mission. For municipalities, it can drive economic growth. As can be expected, these returns come with increased financial risk, a longer time to complete, and much greater complexity than the acquisition of existing real estate. Especially in this time of economic uncertainty and constant change, new developments can be difficult to start or move forward with, or may require strategic repositioning efforts.

Bring a development consultant in the earliest conceptual stages — they’ll help you determine the scope of the project, avoid unnecessary risk, and minimize costs.

To optimize financial investment, increase ROI, and minimize risk, organizations or public entities (“owners/investors”) can hire real estate development consultants (also called "development advisors"). But what is a development consultant and how can they help owners/investors reach their goals? In this article, we will cover:

The responsibilities of a development consultant
The valuable role of a development consultant on a project team
When to hire a development consultant

What is a real estate development consultant?

Real estate development consultants offer the specialized knowledge, experience, and capacity to help owner/investors manage every phase of the development process.

Development consultants have experience with predevelopment, proforma development, design, and construction. They often also have specialized experience in the development of certain asset types (e.g., single tenant retail). Because they understand all the factors driving a project forward and the challenges developments face, the owner/investor can rely on them to guide the project with his or her best interests in mind, from project conception through closeout.

Real estate development consultants offer the specialized knowledge, experience, and capacity to help owner/investors manage every phase of the development process.

Development consultants can be a valuable resource whether you have internal staff with development experience or not. Many times, owners/investors don’t have the internal staff with the specialized knowledge and resources to vet, plan, and manage a development project because it’s not a frequent enough activity to require in-house capabilities. Similarly, established development companies may want to augment their staff or gather additional expertise or guidance on their more challenging projects.

What does a real estate development consultant do?

In terms of roles, development consultants are not the decision-maker — the control over the project remains with the owner/investor. Instead, the consultant is responsible for the process, coordinating the development team, and acting as a trusted advisor for key decisions along the way. Development consultants are the funnel through which communication and coordination with all other project team members flow. Like the quarterback on a football team, they provide the owner/investor, and the team, with expert analysis, advice, and clarification to make each play (phase) of the project successful at moving game (project) forward.