The Luskin School of Public Affairs has been approved to launch its new Master of Real Estate Development program starting in the fall of 2025.

The 11-month program, which was first proposed three years ago, will give students graduate-level professional training in real estate and urban development, said Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, the Luskin School’s interim dean. Students will focus on the basics of real estate but also more contemporary topics such as housing affordability, climate change architecture and building for communities of color.

The program targets students with previous experience in property development and graduate students who are looking for professional opportunities in real estate development, said Vinit Mukhija, a professor in the Department of Urban Planning, which will house the new degree program. Other universities such as UC Berkeley and the University of Southern California have similar programs, Mukhija said.

Mukhija said the program seeks to contextualize real estate development education by focusing on relevant urban policies, institutions and economic regulations.

“We want to situate this real estate development education in the context of a broader urban development perspective,” he said. “We are also motivated by thinking of how real estate development contributes to opportunities for environmental sustainability, social equity and inclusive cities.”

Loukaitou-Sideris said the program will contain 44 units of courses ranging from land development law and building technologies to green building. Students will use Los Angeles as a collaborative “laboratory” to brainstorm ideas and develop solutions involving policy, land use planning and construction, Loukaitou-Sideris said.

“The students will have capstone projects that are real-life opportunities to simulate real-world development projects,” Loukaitou-Sideris said. “Depending on their interests, there will be a bunch of electives. … If students want to follow that emphasis on housing affordability, there will be courses on housing affordability.”

The program also hopes to address the lack of diversity in the real estate industry by focusing on equity, sustainability and inclusion, Mukhija said. The program hopes to do that by fundraising and receiving fellowships, such as diversity fellowships and fellowships for people who may not afford the program, Loukaitou-Sideris said.

Loukaitou-Sideris said the program is also very timely because of real estate issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Loukaitou-Sideris said Southern California is facing the problem of adaptive reuse, which occurs when an existing structure is repurposed to fulfill a different role than what it was originally intended.

Michael Manville, a professor in the Department of Urban Planning, added that this program is particularly relevant in LA because the city is a center of new real estate trends.

“The city has a lot of growth pressure, it has an affordability crisis and its layout will need to change if we are going to meet our climate and sustainability goals,” he said in an emailed statement. “In that way, it is an ideal place to study real estate.”

The program will have an emphasis on practical knowledge such as development, real estate finance and legal and market analysis skills, Mukhija said. He added that over two-thirds of the program’s faculty will be industry experts.

Mukhija said he expects the program to be well-received and looks forward to it beginning.

“We are optimistic that we will have a lot of interest from local Bruins, as well as statewide, nationwide and globally”