Real Estate Development

 

Description:

The Assistant Vice President of Real Estate Development and Chief Real Estate Officer leads the talented team of UW Real Estate professionals, with focus on economic development and public private partnerships to drive value while meeting the overall needs and priorities of the institution.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

The scope of work for the Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Real Estate Development & Chief Real Estate Officer (CREO) encompasses oversight of a broad range of functions integral to the University’s real estate operations.

UWF Executive Leadership [20%]

Serve as an executive member of the UW Facilities VP Staff Team (comprised of the Vice President and the leaders of the six major units of Facilities).

Develop and manage proactive, efficient and transparent processes and communication protocols for University clients, senior leadership, Board of Regents, peer organizations, community members, and other stakeholders;

Present to the Board of Regents, as needed.

Chair, facilitate, or otherwise contribute to the work of important committees, boards and governance groups.

Contribute at a leadership level to the excellence of UW Facilities, Real Estate and to its reputation for providing outstanding customer service.

Team Development and Empowerment: Foster a culture of professional growth and development within the Real Estate group and across Facilities. This includes identifying training needs, mentoring team members, and empowering them to take initiative and make decisions that align with the strategic vision for the University’s real estate portfolio.

Provide expert professional guidance on matters of real estate stewardship, budgeting, occupancy and operations.

Lead the Real Estate organization in continuing to improve performance as a service-oriented, professional, and efficient unit capable of addressing the diverse needs of a growing research institution in a complex stakeholder environment.

Reduce duplicative processes and standardize approaches to processes that cross all Real Estate and University assets and UW Facilities departments;

Represent the University as an industry leader by participating in professional organizations, conferences, and events.

Serve as a representative on the UDP board or the Business Improvement Area board, representing the UW’s contributions to the U-District’s vitality and communities proximate to the UW Seattle campus.

Support diversity/equity/inclusion goals of the University and UW Facilities.

Cultivate a culture of teamwork and camaraderie and a standard practice of innovation in the Real Estate group and across the Facilities organization.

Development [40%]

Economic Development: Identify, evaluate, and pursue real estate opportunities while overseeing myriad internal and external stakeholders in collaborative engagement for the purpose of strategically planning and developing the University’s real estate assets in support of and in alignment with the highest needs and priorities of the institution. This work will directly involve furthering relationships with external entities, including private industry, non-profit groups, governmental agencies, and neighborhood/community organizations in support of the University’s ambition to enable brilliant ideation, planning and execution of sound economic development initiatives that expand the impact of the University’s teaching, research, health care and public service missions.

Real Estate Development & Complex Transactions: Lead recruitment of developers for Public/Private Partnership projects at all the University's campuses as part of a team-based approach with the Project Development Group and Campus Architecture and Planning. Lead negotiations with external parties, representing the University's best interests in ground leases and related development delivery models. Assess transaction viability through financial analysis in coordination with UW Facilities Finance and Budget staff. Collaborate with real estate advisors to conduct feasibility studies, market analyses, and due diligence for decision-making. Work with legal counsel to navigate complex transactions, ensuring adherence to all relevant laws and regulations. Review contracts for alignment with University objectives. Oversee execution of approved transactions, monitoring milestones and resolving issues.

Portage Bay Crossing: Provide visionary leadership to advance the University’s West Campus Vision, aligned with the University’s strategic goals and UW Seattle Campus Master Plan, for future development of 3 million square feet of space (over 66 acres). Foster connections across campus and with potential industry partners. Identify and leverage opportunities for collaboration with private industry, community partners, nonprofits, and government agencies.Navigate institutional decision-making and collaborate with colleagues to ensure successful project execution, balancing competing capital investment needs. Utilize expertise in institutional facilities planning, campus master planning, and real estate development, including financial forecasting and creative financing.

o Collaboration: Work closely with many University units, both within UW Facilities and across the UW Seattle campus. Gather information from those units, as well as from the various external entities noted above and facilitate discussions with a wide array of campus stakeholders to identify partnership opportunities which add value. Campus partners will include:

UW Executive Office: UW Leadership will establish the vision for economic and real estate development, and this position will work closely with the UW VP of Facilities to keep the Executive Office informed and ready to make decisions as opportunities for development are considered.

UW Office of External Affairs: This unit is responsible for relations at the federal, state, and local level and is a resource for identifying potential agency partners as well as ensuring that development is consistent with the University’s legislative strategy.

UW Advancement: This unit brings opportunities for connection with partners and/or funding which could help drive the development of the UW campus. It includes UW Marketing and Communications, which can assist with outreach and messaging.

UW Office of Research: This office is a valuable resource for identifying existing and potential research partnerships with the private sector, as well as potential sponsorship opportunities and needs for specific space types.

UW Facilities Asset Management: This unit includes the Campus Architecture and Planning team that drives the UW’s overall space strategy and works closely with individual academic and research units to meet their space needs. The position will work closely with the Campus Architecture and Planning team to ensure that any new development will contribute to a cohesive district character, provide affordable space for UW units, and enable the potential vacation and demolition of existing campus space with substantial deferred maintenance, all while being consistent with the Campus Master Plan. UW Facilities Asset Management also includes the Project Delivery Group which has responsibility to deliver major capital project design and construction services once projects are formed. This includes serving in a Project Management role as an owner’s representative for UW for developer-led Public-Private Partnership agreements.

West Campus Visioning Committee (WCVC): Oversee the WCVC, leading quarterly meetings and facilitating sub-committee activities, and ensuring focus on strategic goals while operating within framework of established governance. Act as the primary liaison between WCVC, UW President’s Office, and the Board of Regents. Collaborate with WCVC Committee Chair on recruitment and replacement of new committee members.

o Facilitation: Serve as the focal point for inquiries about “Portage Bay Crossing” and other development opportunities with external entities. Make presentations and conduct tours of the area, and liaison with UW Facilities, internal UW partners in research, academia, and senior administration. Engage external stakeholders for the purposes of maximizing impact to realize the West Campus vision, including furthering relationships with private industry, non-profit groups, governmental agencies, and neighborhood/community organizations.

Occupancy: Work closely with development partners on occupancy in buildings which expands potential for strong partnerships with external entities (private industry, neighborhood/community partners, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, etc.) and academic entities to support student engagement, research opportunities, affordable housing, and urban vitality.

Convene: Convene industry forums to connect with partners who could help shape plans and vision for the implementation of realizing the Portage Bay Crossing and other campus-wide development potential.

Connect: Meet periodically with UW Housing and Food Services, Asset Management, UW Alumni Association, KUOW, Campus Community Safety, and other UW entities which occupy or operate facilities either in Portage Bay Crossing or elsewhere in the University District to learn about current challenges and future plans.

Trends: Stay current on regional and national development trends for public universities as they engage in their environs and neighborhoods to bring ideas and knowledge and ensure the UW’s plans maximize opportunities to contribute substantially to both the campus vision and mission and the successful growth and vitality of the Portage Bay Crossing and adjacent neighborhoods and the city of Seattle overall.

Husky Real Estate Initiative: Evaluate potential to create new value through initiatives for real estate development and investment, capitalizing and leveraging the University’s unique strengths. If proven feasible, form a team of skilled professionals to deliver and manage the program.

Real Estate Services and Asset Management [15%]

Collaborate with Executive Director of Real Estate in management oversight of delivery of real estate services and asset management with a team of 16 FTE and 3 students, and operating budget of approximately $2M/year. Services include transactions such as leasing, purchases and sales, project management, property operations, property rights, gifts, finance & accounting, business operations and administration. Real estate services are provided to all three UW campuses, medical centers, research field stations, biological preserves, off-campus properties and various international locations. Asset management includes owned and leased real estate portfolios:

Leased portfolio with total financial obligation of $2B, annual payments of $100M and total 2.2M square feet.

Owned properties with collective value of $500M, annual revenue of $30M and 2M square feet.

Metropolitan Tract [10%]

Collaborate with the Director of the Metropolitan Tract in management oversight of the University’s downtown portfolio with estimated value of $900M, annual gross revenue of $67M and 3.3M total square feet. Optimize the performance of the Metropolitan Tract through a combination of development opportunities and asset management to ensure consistent cash flows and risk-adjusted returns over the long term.

Advisory Committee on Real Estate (ACRE) [10%]

Staff and facilitate the Advisory Committee on Real Estate (ACRE): Provide strong and effective leadership of ACRE in order to engage and leverage the real estate industry expertise of ACRE members for the strategic benefit of the institution. Lead quarterly committee meetings and sub-committee meetings as necessary, ensuring focus on the University's strategic goals. Act as the primary liaison between ACRE, the UW President’s Office and the Board of Regents. Ensure that the Committee operates within the framework of established governance policies and procedures. Collaborate with ACRE Chair on recruitment and replacement of new committee members.
Additional Duties [5%]

May include a variety of other responsibilities as required.
Core Competencies

Demonstrate personal integrity and trustworthiness.

Manage stressful situations and changing priorities effectively.

Anticipate, recognize and resolve problems.

Be responsible and accountable.

Use organizational skills and provide attention to details.

Maintain a positive, optimistic, and success-oriented attitude.

Exercise professionalism, which includes being tactful and courteous.

Exhibit a professional work ethic.

Continuously promote a safe work environment.

Requirements include:

Bachelor’s degree and a minimum 15 years’ experience in real estate including substantial leadership experience.

The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with strong relationship-building and communications skills, a creative approach to problem solving, and solid leadership skills that serve to build trust, forge enhanced work processes, drive timely and clear near-term and long-term planning decisions, and help shape the vision for the future.

Interpersonal skills, communication strengths and team orientation to command the confidence and respect of the UWRE team, UW colleagues, Board of Regents and Advisory Committee on Real Estate (ACRE) members.

Strong analytical skills, bringing a high level of imagination, foresight, and pragmatism to the role.

Capability to work effectively in a public sector environment.

Creativity and entrepreneurial approaches with goals of generating revenue and managing costs in an era of budget constraints.

Values and supports a collegial atmosphere which encourages creativity and risk-taking.

Experience with outreach and relationship-building, both within an organization and real estate communities.

Experience in public private partnerships and ground leases, development, property acquisitions, dispositions, asset management, property management, leasing, and other transactions.

Skills in the application of the principles of real estate finance; economic development, legal interpretation; negotiation; appraisal review; preparation and analysis of purchases, sales, leases and other types of transactional documentation; project management; tax-exempt financing alternatives.

Ability to make effective presentations to a range of audiences.

Adept at envisioning the game-changing potential associated with forging relationships between private industry, neighborhood/community partners, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and others. Also be skilled at navigating institutional decision-making and collaborating with colleagues to help ensure projects are successfully formed and executed, in an environment where there are competing needs for capital investment in existing assets. A combination of experience in institutional facilities planning, campus master planning, and real estate development, including creative and complex financing and forecasting will be most useful for success in this work.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

Desired:

Experience in public sector and/or higher education.

Conditions of Employment:

Must be able to work in a non-smoking environment.
Regular and predictable attendance is required.