Amy Hartman, MSRE class of 2017 and Runstad Center Affiliate Fellow, has just completed her first year of the Masters program, and is quickly approaching her first anniversary as a graduate intern at Heartland LLC, a Seattle-based real estate advisory and investment firm. Previously, Amy had worked at an investment brokerage firm, where she underwrote existing product. When she was accepted to the Runstad MSRE program, she actively sought new learning opportunities in both her school curriculum and work experience. According to Amy, “Learning and completing projects in class is important, but it helps a lot to work on real projects. While the Runstad Center provides education applicable to your career, as an intern, you learn things within the context of the real world.” During her interview at Heartland, she expressed her desire to learn more about development project underwriting. As a result, Amy’s primary project focus at Heartland was Scott Redman of Sellen Construction’s family legacy project, 9th & Thomas. Heartland was tasked with providing capital advisory services to the Redman family, and is also the project asset manager. This past year, Amy was responsible for underwriting this development project and is learning the role of an asset manager. “It is exciting to see a project through from idea to implementation,” she says, “In the asset management role, I also get to work closely with the project long term and see the building constructed.”
Having completed her first year and looking forward to her second, Amy offers incoming MSRE candidates the following advice: “Go into the Runstad program and understand the resources – there are a lot! There is a ton of community support and so many ways to get involved: research opportunities, fellowships, internships, etc. Ask to work on projects you want to get that practical experience.”