A property developer is a person – individual, partnership, corporation, co-operative or other legal form of organization – that mainly or exclusively engages in property development professionally. A property developer is a space producer who sponsors and develops property with the objective upon project completion to either lease it out to tenants (build-to-rent) or sell it (build-to-sell).
Real estate developers acquire land for new buildings, lease existing properties, improve and renovate existing buildings and sell properties. They manage the overall project to ensure that it is completed on time and according to the expectations of the stakeholders by organizing the economic and human resources, motivating and directing the resources, and coordinating the development activities.
A developer can also be the counterparty – person or company – in a property development agreement with a government entity (e.g., municipality) for the development of public property, responsible for the construction of buildings and facilities. In such cases where the real estate is public property, the developer will typically be the project manager/general contractor.
Property developers generally take the greatest risk in the real estate development projects but also receive the greatest rewards – development projects can be highly profitable investment opportunities. Whether or not a person is considered a property developer has significant accounting and tax consequences for that person in most jurisdictions. Property developers are distinguished from project managers and general contractors, although they may also act in these capacities.