Principal Property Development Officer

Bay Area Rapid Transit; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 149,000 - 181,000; Full time

Job summary

Bay Area Rapid Transit seeks two Principal Property Development Officers to lead TOD and joint development projects across the District. You will manage major development efforts from pre-solicitation planning to implementation, coordinating with engineering, maintenance, legal counsel, and executive leadership to advance strategic TOD objectives.

The role requires strong negotiation, public sector real estate, and stakeholder engagement skills, with emphasis on maximizing public value while

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in urban planning, business administration, public administration, property development or closely related field.
• Four years of verifiable full-time experience in land development or related field.
• Substitution: more experience may substitute for education; a Bachelor's degree is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the most complex real estate transactions undertaken by TOD, including long-term leases to private sector and local jurisdictions.
• Provide guidance to staff, consultants and contractors on TOD policy and transactions.
• Maintain project oversight to ensure TOD goals and board actions are fulfilled; collaborate with multiple departments to advance TOD projects.
• Coordinate with legal, finance, and external partners to identify external funding for TOD access infrastructure.
• Prepare contracts and agreements for developer qualifications and proposals; present to Executives and Board.
• Coordinate with internal legal and external counsel on project legal aspects.
• Represent the District in front of design review boards, planning commissions, and other public bodies.

Skills

TOD strategy

Joint development

Negotiation

Public real estate

Stakeholder engagement

Financial analysis

Regulatory navigation

Executive communication

Project leadership

Land use planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in urban planning, business administration, public administration, property development

Job description

Pay Rate

AFSCME Pay Grade A19
Step 1: $148,844.80/Annually - Step 5: $180,939.20/Annually

Note: Initial salary offer will be commensurate with education and experience.

Reports To

Group Manager, Transit Oriented Development or designee

Days Off

Saturday/Sunday

Who May Apply

All current BART employees and Future BART employees

Current Assignment

This job announcement will be used to establish an eligibility list of qualified candidates for vacancies that may occur within the next twelve (12) months.

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit is looking to fill two Principal Property Development Officer positions. The Principal Property Development Officer will serve as a senior member within BART’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) team, leading complex joint development projects across the District’s system.

The incumbent will manage major development projects from pre-solicitation planning through implementation. This role coordinates closely with internal BART stakeholders including engineering, maintenance, customer access, legal counsel, and executive leadership to advance projects aligned with BART’s long-term strategic objectives developers. The position leads on communication and coordination with local jurisdictions and other public agencies and community stakeholders associated with any assigned TOD project.

This role will lead efforts to maximize the value and public benefit of BART-owned property while balancing operational needs, financial stewardship, sustainability goals, development principles, and community engagement.

Assignments may include public private partnerships to advance mixed-use development and affordable or mixed-income residential projects. Example assignments include, but are not limited to:

• Pre-solicitation planning and developer solicitation for sites prioritized in BART’s 2024 TOD Work Plan
• Deal term negotiations with developers
• Oversight of approved TOD projects that are in construction
• Coordination with internal capital project leads and funding strategists and development partners on external grants (AHSC, TIRCP, etc.) to support TOD access infrastructure

The most qualified candidates for this position will have highly developed competencies in the following area, which will be reinforced with related work experience and will be clearly articulated during the selection process:

• Transit-oriented development and joint development strategy
• Complex negotiation and partnership management
• Public sector real estate development and land use planning
• Stakeholder engagement and community relationship building
• Financial analysis and development feasibility evaluation
• Coordination of development activities within active transit environments
• Policy interpretation and regulatory navigation
• Executive communication and strategic leadership

Education:

A Bachelor’s degree in urban planning, business administration, public administration, property development or a closely related field from an accredited college or university.

Experience

Four (4) years of (full-time equivalent) verifiable professional experience in the area of land development or related experience.

Substitution:

Additional professional experience as outlined above may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis. A Bachelor’s degree is preferred.

Knowledge of:

• Operations, services and activities of a public property disposition or joint development program.
• Methods and techniques of property management, and appraisal.
• Methods and techniques of land use development of all categories of land use.
• Principles and practices of land use planning.
• Basic principles and practices of construction engineering.
• Basic principles and practices of budget preparation and management.
• Current office procedures, methods and equipment including computers.
• Methods and techniques of legal documentation of real estate and real estate transactions.
• Related Federal, State, and local codes, laws, and regulations.
• Principles of supervision, training and performance evaluation.
• Best practices in transit-oriented development and joint development.
• Best practices in community engagement

Skill in:

• Independently performing property disposition and acquisition duties.
• Interpreting, explaining, and enforcing property development divisions policies and procedures.
• Evaluating technical analyses/reports from consultants, developers, or relevant subject matter experts including surveys, appraisals, pro formas, market analysis, environmental assessments, etc.
• Negotiating joint development projects and associated agreements with private sector partners.
• Negotiating real property dispositions with local land use jurisdictions.
• Drafting and reviewing real estate related documentation.
• Reading basic engineering plans, maps and related materials.
• Operating office equipment including computers and supporting word processing and spreadsheet applications.
• Working independently in the absence of supervision.
• Understanding and following oral and written instructions.
• Communicating clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, including for public audiences.
• Presenting in front of elected/appointed boards and commissions.
• Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

1. Leads the most complex real estate transactions undertaken by the Transit-Oriented Development department including the long-term lease of the District’s real property assets to the private sector and local land use jurisdictions in keeping with the District’s Transit-Oriented Development Policy.

2. Provides direction to subordinate staff, consultants and contractors in assessing the viability of potential land use transactions, securing private sector entities to develop the District’s real property assets, assisting in securing entitlement from local land use jurisdictions, and negotiating real property transactions with the private sector.

3. Maintains control of implementation of Transit-Oriented Development projects throughout the BART organization to ensure TOD Policies and Board-adopted actions are fulfilled; interacts and works with various departments (e.g. Transportation, Infrastructure Delivery, District Architect, Maintenance and Engineering, Police, Customer Access, and Transit System Development) to advance TOD projects to completion.

4. Contributes to the development of policy and procedures for handling District assets; administers programs; monitors legislative changes; makes changes as needed to policies and procedures; promotes application of public and private partnerships throughout all District activity.

5. Prepares contracts and agreements for requests for developer qualifications and/or development proposals; evaluates responses; makes recommendations and prepares information, memos, and presentations for Executive staff and the Board’s consideration; completes negotiations; and executes transactions.

6. Identifies modifications to existing BART policy to improve fulfillment of division goals and objectives; effectuates policy modifications as needed. Identifies Division needs in real property disposition activity; conducts research on tracking needs; coordinates market studies to determine rental and/or disposition values and cost analyses of property BART leases from others and of BART-owned property.

7. Coordinates legal aspects of projects with District internal legal department and outside legal counsel, as appropriate.

8. Coordinates the work of consultants and interns; oversees consultant work, provides feedback and advice to consultants and interns on an ongoing basis; evaluates results and performance.

9. Represents the District in front of design review boards, planning commissions, city councils, other public bodies, and with staff from relevant local and state agencies to provide expertise and support regarding policies that advance transit-oriented development adjacent to the District’s rapid transit facilities; testifies in all land use forums in support of transit-oriented development.

10. Coordinates with internal departments and development partners to identify and pursue external funding to support access infrastructure in support of TOD projects.

11. May participate in the selection of assigned staff; coordinates staff training; works with employees to correct deficiencies; assists in the completion of performance appraisals; implements counseling and discipline procedures.