Development Associate

About Us

Riaz Capital is a real estate developer-operator driven by a motivated and talented team focused on addressing the changing housing needs of the Bay Area. We develop and operate missing middle-market multifamily real estate in the Bay Area, and are on a mission to provide convenient, premium-quality and financially accessible workforce housing to our residents. We work as a team that challenges, collaborates, and supports each other to positively impact residents and the broader community, and to deliver on our goals for our business and investors. Our buildings are planet-friendly with a low carbon footprint and high bike, walk, and transit scores, and we invest in the communities where our buildings are located.

Operating in the Bay Area since 1977, the Company’s roots go back two generations. We possess core competencies in design, development, construction management, asset management, finance and capital markets. Today, the company has ~$500 million in real estate assets under management (over 1,500 units) and has roughly 1,700 residences in the development or construction process. We have achieved an IRR of 36% over 12 exited deals between 2010 and 2019, and our latest fund, the Ozone Fund III, closed at $122M, well over our projected $100M target.

Our aim is to create a real estate asset base of over $1 billion by 2024 and provide premium quality, affordable, housing to ~5,000 residents by 2027.

At the core of our solution to the Bay Area housing crisis is the micro-living model - a synthesis of our years-long experience in micro-units, student housing, traditional multi-family, and co-living. The design incorporates all the necessary functions of a housing unit and works in a variety of building types: townhouses, mid-rise apartments, substantial rehab, and adaptive reuse. The units provide our residents with a sense of independence and individuality, all within the fabric of a larger community. Each of our projects places an emphasis on architectural creativity, thoughtful design, walkability, utilisation of open space, and personal privacy. In addition to new construction development, we have extensive experience in repositioning both urban and suburban workforce housing properties and have executed several adaptive reuse projects. Our current activities are ~70% new construction and ~30% adaptive reuse and repositioning.

Our firm’s culture is focused on being customer centric by understanding their needs and best providing for them. For us, it is just as it is important to do good for our residents, team members, the community, and the planet, as it is to do well by our investors and business. We support and challenge each other a team and believe people from diverse backgrounds, identities, and experiences, make our company better.

DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

The Development Associate position is a unique opportunity to work on the entire development process from start to finish. In this position, you will gain significant multifamily real estate experience with a fast-growing real estate development, construction, and management firm. You will be responsible for the entitlement process,working with the construction management team during construction, and working with the property management and leasing team to ensure the properties are leased up as quickly and efficiently as possible until stabilization.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

PROJECT SETUP

• Work with the Acquisition team to support entitlement feasibility and validating budgets, schedules and design during the acquisition of a new project.
• Work with the VP of Design & Entitlement to create project schedules and budgets.
• Assist the VP of Design & Entitlement with neighborhood and community outreach for the project.

FINANCE AND SYSTEMS

• Responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the project financial model and lead the monthly project close process which includes reviewing and reconciling financial statements and job cost accounting, updating project cash position, preparing agendas, and leading cross-functional close meetings.
• File applications for City Permits, utility services and other agencies
• Help facilitate team, external and intercompany meetings by preparing agendas and tracking action items
• Support the Finance team on Construction Loan transactions and assist in providing information to the lender when requested
• Manage building and project insurance with broker

ENTITLEMENT PROCESS

• Lead entitlement process for the project to ensure planning approval and building permits obtained in accordance with the schedule
• Manage third party consultant contracts, budgets, schedules, scopes of work and deliverables
• Act on behalf of the owner for Planning and Building department meetings and submittals. Form relationships with the City Staff as well as representatives of other agencies.
• Coordinate with construction team throughout the design process, and to ensure a clean handoff at the start of the project

PRE-CONSTRUCTION & CONSTRUCTION

• Lead Design Development process with consultants and construction team
• Manage utility service applications and approvals
• Act as resolving function for the construction team and consultant questions throughout the project
• Manage the neighbor and community communication throughout the length of the construction process

LEASE UP AND STABILIZATION

• Manage overall transition from project to occupied building to ensure lease up is successful per our modeled expectations
• Ensure successful transition to property management and leasing team including: direction on rental amounts and concessions per unit based on the pro forma, the above file, O&M manual, building onboarding checklist, and other necessary information and support for a clean handoff

COMPANY SUPPORT

• Assist in market analysis, zoning research, and planning code review
• Research and expand our network of contractors, sub-contractors, and consultants
• Assist with Business Development with potential investors, lenders, and partners

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in an industry related to Construction, Architecture, Engineering or Real Estate
• Minimum 3-5 years experience in an industry related to Construction, Architecture, Engineering or Real Estate
• General knowledge of acquisition, entitlements and permitting, architecture, and construction
• Knowledge and experience working with zoning, federal, state, and local codes, ADA, and other applicable laws
• Ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize, and take initiative in a fast paced environment.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills
• Ability to build, run, and manage a project budget and schedule
• Strong and proactive communicator

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Status: Full-time

Start Date: Immediately

Location: Oakland Office

Riaz Capital is an equal opportunity employer and believes diversity in the workplace results in more innovative solutions and drives value for our firm.