For Matthew Anoih, an especially useful aspect of the Master of Property Development was the opportunity to work on real-world assessments. Could Property Development study work for you too?
Development of Moorebank Quarry in Sydney’s southwest was a high-profile, capital-intensive project that transformed a former brick quarry into a residential community over a period of years.
It was also an ideal case study in property development, and so UTS masters students were tasked with replicating the early stages of the project, applying the knowledge they’d gained in the course. It’s these kinds of real-world assessment experiences, often set and guided by practising industry professionals, that give UTS property development graduates a genuine edge.
We had to come up with a feasible model to meet the client’s KPIs.
Which were maximising profit, minimising risk and expanding their business offerings into new regions.
"This exercise was about finding out which was the best financing option for the project, so whether you’re going to get a loan. Whether you’re going to sell the property straight away or lease it for 10 years first – which one is going to maximise the profit and reduce the risk?" Matthew says.
For Matthew, a project manager for AGM Construction, the assignment provided an opportunity to apply his classroom learning to a genuine property project. The work was marked by an expert panel comprised of teaching staff and industry experts, including a senior manager from Boral who had worked on the original Moorebank Quarry project.
"He was there to explain the scenario and then gave us all the information we needed to get started," Matthew says.
"When it came time to present, we presented in front of him and the lecturer and he gave us advice, recommendations and feedback on our work. It was really good."
"In the same subject, we also did other assignments that were similar, on real sites, which were on a smaller scale. In terms of size, these were more suited to what I’m doing currently, which was also a good thing – I can adopt these things into my current work."
These sorts of real-world activities are a regular feature in the Property Development degree, with content covering every perspective of the discipline from the political to financial, legal, ethical, environmental and more. The Master of Property Development can also be paired with other degrees in the built environment (planning, project management or real estate investment) to provide a unique, even wider perspective on the industry.
It’s all part of UTS’s broader commitment to producing work-ready, industry-connected graduates whose learning is truly informed by the profession.
