Pre-Construction Analyst

POSITION: Pre-Construction Analyst                                                                   

LOCATION: Atlanta, GA

As a Pre-Construction Analyst, you will join the development team, and report to the Executive Vice President of Pre-Construction. In this role, you will be exposed to all aspects of the development and construction lifecycle. You will help determine the feasibility of projects at conception and then are tasked with ensuring their viability by driving efficient design and buildable plans, coordinating the work of our team of consultants, architects, and engineers, and maintaining challenging budgets and construction timelines.

In contrast to the acquisitions side of Cortland, which closed on more than 50 new communities last year, you will join a relatively new team at the firm. New Development is currently a small but rapidly growing business arm of Cortland with ambitions to be a top 20 national developer in the next three years. Towards that goal, we closed on five new developments in 2021 and currently have 1,935 units under construction.

Despite our size, Development is supported and augmented by significant firm resources. These include architects and designers, capital markets and data analytics teams, property and investment management, and experts in utilities, waste management, sustainability, building automation and technology, and even our own in-house entomologist.

More broadly, we are able to draw on significant additional resources available at Cortland that come from having an owned portfolio of more than 76,000 units and over $19 billion in assets under management.

In this role, you will be expected to make substantial contributions to analysis that will inform and determine the team’s investment decisions and performance. Your responsibilities will include the following:

• Creating hard cost pricing models based on past experience and historical data
• Estimating and projecting the cost of prospective development opportunities
• Partnering with the architect and finance team to understand the financial impact of different building concepts to establish efficient designs early in the project cycle
• Analyzing the impacts of changes to project design and schedule, then identifying strategies to mitigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities
• Driving the design phase process by coordinating with 3^rd parties including utility companies, low voltage providers, and technical consultants to ensure a complete and coordinated set of construction documents and an efficient start of construction
• Establishing relationships with General Contractors across the country, overseeing the bidding and selection process for each deal, and negotiating Guaranteed Maximum Price contracts with average values that exceed $50 million.
• Identifying, tracking, and managing key risks to each project’s schedule and budget
• Researching and analyzing new product designs, construction materials and techniques, and emerging technologies, that save money, reduce risk, increase speed, drive revenue, or reduce operating costs.
• Helping develop and establish new construction and design standards
• Helping prepare monthly and quarterly reports that summarize and track progress across our pipeline for review by Cortland’s Executive Committee
• Helping with miscellaneous additional assignments to facilitate the effectiveness of the development team and Cortland as a whole

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

This is a demanding role. Historically, our most successful hires are driven and willing to do whatever it takes to succeed in an environment that is often ambiguous, requires multitasking, and can be stressful. Efficiency and accuracy of your analysis is critical as significant investment decisions will be informed by your work product. Candidates should possess the following:

• Bachelor’s degree in construction management, real estate, business, or finance, with an excellent academic track record; please include your GPA on your resume
• A demonstrated interest in real estate, construction, and development
• Capable writer who communicates succinctly
• High attention to detail
• Strong computer and financial modeling skills – particularly with Excel and PowerPoint
• Critical thinker and self-starter capable of accomplishing a task with limited guidance and supervision
• Applicants should include a cover letter with their resume