Vice President of Design and Construction

Realberry is a privately held full service real estate development, investment and management company with a team of highly talented associates. We are passionate about creating great places for people and providing fabled experiences. We are "evergreen," which means that we constantly strive to prosper in all phases of the real estate cycle.

At Realberry, we attract and retain the best and brightest in the industry and are constantly building our team to achieve our goals.

Realberry is seeking a Vice President of Hospitality Development & Investments to join its growing team of real estate professionals dedicated to creating iconic destinations across the United States. Reporting to the Executive Vice President of Hospitality Development, this senior leader will own the full arc of hospitality investment activity, from site identification and entitlements through deal structuring, financial close, and project delivery.

This is a high impact, highly visible role in one of the country's most respected real estate development and investment firms. The ideal candidate pairs deep financial and transactional expertise with the judgment and stamina to see complex projects through from first concept to opening day. A mandatory requirement for this position is direct, hands-on participation in the complete project life cycle on a minimum of two (2) hospitality developments.

Key Responsibilities include:

Deal Origination & Structuring

• Source, evaluate, and prioritize hospitality investment and development opportunities aligned with Realberry's strategic portfolio objectives and return thresholds.
• Structure complex transactions including ground leases, joint ventures, management agreements, franchise arrangements, and layered debt/equity capital stacks.
• Negotiate term sheets, LOIs, purchase and sale agreements, and partnership documents with developers, operators, owners, and capital partners.
• Build and maintain a proprietary deal pipeline through broker, brand, operator, and owner relationships across target markets.

Financial Underwriting & Investment Analysis

• Own the end-to-end underwriting process for acquisitions, ground-up developments, and recapitalizations, including detailed cash flow modeling and return attribution.
• Evaluate market fundamentals, competitive supply, brand and operator selection, and RevPAR growth assumptions for each investment opportunity.
• Author investment committee memoranda and present recommendations with rigorous financial analysis and risk/return scenarios.
• Partner with capital markets advisors and equity partners to optimize the capital structure of each transaction.

Real Estate Entitlements & Pre-Development

• Lead entitlement strategy for ground-up and adaptive reuse hospitality developments, coordinating with land use attorneys, planning consultants, and government agencies.
• Manage zoning applications, conditional use permits, environmental reviews (CEQA/NEPA), and regulatory approvals required to advance projects.
• Engage community stakeholders, neighborhood councils, and public officials to build support and navigate opposition throughout the approvals process.
• Control pre-development budgets and timelines to ensure entitlement milestones are achieved within cost and schedule constraints.

Full Project Life Cycle Oversight

• Serve as the senior development executive responsible for continuity across all project phases — from feasibility, entitlement, and design through construction, FF&E, and hotel opening.
• Coordinate with development management, architecture, construction, and operations teams to ensure delivery aligns with underwritten proforma assumptions.
• Monitor key milestones, budget performance, and schedule adherence, escalating risks and driving corrective action as needed.
• Partner with asset management and operations to ensure a seamless transition from delivery to stabilized performance.

Leadership & Strategic Collaboration

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of development associates and analysts, setting performance standards and building a culture of excellence and accountability.
• Collaborate with executive leadership to define portfolio strategy, capital allocation priorities, and geographic expansion plans.
• Represent Realberry at industry conferences, brand summits, and investor forums to strengthen the firm's profile and relationships.
• Contribute to the development of internal underwriting standards, investment governance frameworks, and process improvements.

• REQUIRED: Documented full project life cycle participation on a minimum of two (2) hospitality development or major renovation projects, spanning site selection, entitlements, design, construction, and operational opening.
• Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate, Finance, Business Administration, Architecture, or a related field required.
• MBA, Master’s in Real Estate Development (MRED), or equivalent advanced degree strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive, directly relevant experience in hospitality real estate development, acquisitions, or investment management.
• Proven deal-structuring track record across joint ventures, ground leases, brand/operator agreements, and mixed-use hospitality transactions.
• Deep hands-on financial underwriting experience, including construction of complex proforma models for hotel and resort assets in Excel and/or ARGUS Enterprise.
• Extensive experience navigating real estate entitlement processes across multiple jurisdictions, including zoning approvals and environmental permitting.
• Experience working with institutional equity partners, family offices, or private equity sponsors in a development or acquisitions capacity.

Benefits

Realberry offers a competitive benefits package for full-time Associates including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, 401(k), and employee assistance plan. Additionally, we offer a generous paid time off plan that includes a week off between Christmas and New Year’s!

This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the position.  It is not designed to be a comprehensive or detailed description of all the responsibilities and accountability of the role.  As an agile company, our positions can and do change based on the business needs of the organization.

If you are a recruiter or placement agency, please do not submit resumes to any person or email address at Realberry. Realberry is not liable for and will not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by any agency other than its approved recruitment partners. Realberry is not currently seeking any new recruitment partnerships. Furthermore, any resumes sent to us without an agreement in place will be considered your company’s gift to Realberry and may be forwarded to our recruiters for their attention.

Realberry is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all associates. All employment decisions at Realberry are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications.  All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Salary : $200,000 - $230,000