Real Estate and Urban Action Related Courses
Spring 2025
These courses, offered by departments across the University, may be of interest to students interested in Real Estate and Urban Action.
BSLW 2020: Real Estate Development in Practice
NEW COURSE, 1 Credit
Wednesday, 10:30-1:00 PM, Corcoran Center 4th Floor
Professor: Sean McReynolds
This course covers key stages of real estate development—from site selection to project completion—emphasizing market analysis, financial modeling, and local market knowledge. Students learn how to evaluate market trends, financial viability, and regulatory factors, building a strong foundation for further real estate studies.
BSLW 2201: Real Estate Colloquium II - Innovation Field Study
NEW COURSE, 1 Credit
Friday, 10:00-1:00 PM, Fulton Hall 245
Professor: Taylor Perkins
This course provides hands-on exposure to innovative real estate projects and urban trends. Through three site visits, students engage with leaders in areas like office-to-residential conversion, retail revitalization, and modular construction. Includes orientation, debriefs, reflections, and opening/closing lectures at Boston College; transportation is provided by the Corcoran Center.
BSLW 2402:Â Real Estate Case Competitions
1 Credit
Monday, 4:30-5:45 PM, Fulton Hall 110
Professor: Tom Pereira
This 10-week course prepares students for real estate case competitions, focusing on development, finance, and affordable housing. Students meet weekly to develop skills in market analysis, proposal crafting, and presentation. The course culminates with submissions to the Corcoran Center Case Competition.
BSLW 2208/ECON 1208: Urban Action Lab
3 Credits
Thursday, 10:00-1:00 PM, Carney Hall 437
Professors: Neil McCullagh and Ed Frechette
Professor's Permission Required To Enroll
The Urban Action Lab is a semester-long course where students gain hands-on experience in real estate and urban action, focusing on affordable housing and opportunity access. Partnering with Boston-based organizations, students complete high-impact projects involving research, evaluation, and collaboration.
BSLW 1145: Real Estate Development
3 Credits
Mondays & Wednesdays, 1:30-2:45 PM, Fulton Hall 250
Professor: Edward Chazen
This course employs various teaching and learning methods: class lectures; videos of interviews with experts and about illustrative projects; case study discussion; guest lectures; team-based virtual tours of Boston neighborhoods that have been transformed by large-scale real estate development; and, a capstone project of teams preparing a development plan for an actual site in the Boston areas.This course is focused on what real estate development is and what it means to be a real estate developer. Students will gain an understanding of the process of real estate development, including design and construction; how developers engage with the public sector and the surrounding community to obtain approval for a development; how projects are financed; and, other important elements that contribute to completing successful real estate projects. Also learn about the legal aspects of developments; the ways that development is a catalyst for neighborhood improvement and local economic growth; and, trends in sustainable development.
MFIN 2207: Real Estate Finance
3 Credits
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 3:00-4:15 PM, Fulton Hall 145
Professor: Edward Chazen
This course focuses on how capital is applied to debt and equity financing of income-producing real estate. The course content covers private debt and equity and public securities markets for real estate finance. The course format includes lectures, case study discussions, financial modeling exercises, guest speakers, REIT stock analysis, discussion of selected readings and simulation of negotiations. The course covers real estate finance from the perspective of the users of capital (developers and property owners) and the sources of capital (lenders and equity investors). The primary student outcomes are the ability to value commercial property; understand risks; how to structure a financing of commercial real estate; know the diverse sources of capital in the real estate industry and analyze, discuss and present a professional financing for debt and equity.
BSLW2299: Real Estate Field Projects
3 Credits
Meets Various Days
Professor's Permission Required To Enroll
Professor: Edward Chazen
This course employs various teaching and learning methods: class lectures; videos of interviews with experts and about illustrative projects; case study discussion; guest lectures; team-based virtual tours of Boston neighborhoods that have been transformed by large-scale real estate development; and, a capstone project of teams preparing a development plan for an actual site in the Boston areas.This course is focused on what real estate development is and what it means to be a real estate developer. Students will gain an understanding of the process of real estate development, including design and construction; how developers engage with the public sector and the surrounding community to obtain approval for a development; how projects are financed; and, other important elements that contribute to completing successful real estate projects. Also learn about the legal aspects of developments; the ways that development is a catalyst for neighborhood improvement and local economic growth; and, trends in sustainable development.