The class
The new Real Estate Lab Action Learning course is a hands-on, interdisciplinary program jointly offered by the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT Center for Real Estate (within the School of Architecture and Planning). This course aims to equip students with practical skills across core topics in real estate, including real estate investment, asset management, development, climate responsive real estate, and proptech (real estate technology).
The primary goal is to provide students with comprehensive, real-world experience, preparing them to work with leading companies in real estate investment, asset management, development, and related fields, both in public markets (such as REITs) and private markets (such as private equity firms).
Course structure and student team composition
Students from the MIT Sloan MBA, the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA (SFMBA), the Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED) program, and the Master of City Planning (MCP) program will participate. To encourage collaboration across disciplines, students will be organized into mixed teams of four to five members, combining expertise from all three programs. For this first run, we plan to recruit 20 students.
Students will be introduced to a list of host companies and asked to indicate their preferences for placements. This will allow us to form teams based on interest, ensuring alignment with students' professional goals. The teams will be formed based on students' preferences and skills to ensure each team has the expertise needed to tackle their respective projects effectively.
Class schedule and guest speakers
Classes will be held twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Guest speakers will feature prominently in the curriculum, with senior managers, CEOs, and industry leaders from host companies and other major real estate firms—including private equity and asset management firms, as well as pension funds—sharing insights and best practices in the real estate sector.
Fieldwork and deliverables
During spring break in March, students will travel to work onsite with their host companies. The final deliverables for the course will include comprehensive reports and presentations to the host companies, with the possibility of producing additional materials, such as posters, to visually represent their findings and solutions.
Throughout the course, students will engage regularly with host companies, both in person and remotely. In addition to the spring break site visits, they will have virtual meetings with company management teams. When executives from host companies visit Boston, students will have opportunities to meet with them in person.
Interested in enrolling?
MIT Sloan students interested in taking Real Estate Lab can bid for the course using the Sloan bidding system. MSRED and MCP students will have a separate application.
