Preparing students for affordable housing careers

An expanded collaboration between Capital One and Project Destined is creating new opportunities for college students to gain hands-on experience in commercial real estate, build their networks and get on the path to a career in the industry. 

Earlier this year, Capital One hosted its first Affordable Housing Finance Bridge Program, which it created in partnership with Project Destined, a nonprofit that connects students with training and mentorship at leading commercial real estate companies. The month-long academy allowed a select cohort of more than 20 students to work alongside Capital One professionals to develop proposals, analyze the use of tax credits, learn about underwriting and more. 

This year’s participants say they benefited from working directly with mentors, building new relationships and gaining deeper knowledge of the commercial real estate business. The program directly involves students in proposals and presentations—immersing them in the work that Capital One’s commercial real estate and affordable housing finance teams do every day. 

Project Destined gives students a firsthand look at the real work of commercial real estate professionals, explains Sulaiman Rashid, an associate project manager at Capital One and a Project Destined alumnus. “The program is invaluable because of the people you’re going to meet and everything you’re going to learn,” he says. 

This year’s Affordable Housing Finance Bridge Program culminated in late March with an in-person day at Capital One’s headquarters campus in McLean, Virginia. Students heard presentations, met Capital One team members and asked questions of senior commercial real estate professionals.  

“The thread all throughout the day was authenticity,” says Kristina Peña Wilson, commercial real estate chief of staff at Capital One. “It’s about finding connection points that are authentic for you.” Initiatives like the Affordable Housing Finance Bridge Program can help people find something they are passionate about and help them to pursue it, she said. 

Mentorship and hands-on experience have driven Project Destined programs from the beginning. Founded by Cedric Bobo, a former private equity executive, the organization provides students who otherwise might not have access to the commercial real estate industry with training, experience and a path to early-career opportunities. The group has worked with some 30,000 students over the past decade, and Capital One has been supporting its efforts since 2019. 

Economic forces have not been the only driver shaping the CRE industry: technological advances have also played a major role. Innovation in big data has sparked the development of new investment vehicles that effectively use the growing array of economic, demographic, geographic, and industry level information available to measure and project the path of the real estate market. While these instruments generally move in tandem during periods of expansion and contraction, they often diverge during periods of uncertainty and market adjustment.

CRE markets appear to be entering a period of uncertainty. While the past decade was dominated by tailwinds, during which the recovery from financial crisis helped boost property fundamentals, values, and the supply and performance of commercial mortgages to historic levels. The market has entered a new phase in which headwinds have begun to push back. As the balance adjusts over the coming years the CRE industry will follow suit.

The information above focuses on the CRE market as a whole, but short and long term trends have varied widely across sectors. The variation in performance and risk, along with the relative size of the sectors drives the CRE market as a whole. This study examines socioeconomic and industry specific data and how it has evolved and transformed over time. It considers how trends in economic and financial markets, along with regulations and innovation, may influence the market for tools for commercial finance.

 

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