Career Focus

This course provides students with the skills and knowledge essential for a career in delivering, operating, and investing in large capital projects. The focus is on physical infrastructure as an asset class, although there are many similarities to commercial real estate. This course is designed to complement “Deal Making in Real Estate,” HBS 1475.

Educational Objectives

Students will learn about project selection, capital structure, risk transfer, and fundamentals of the construction process for both vertical construction (real estate) and horizontal construction (infrastructure). The course considers policy aspects and investing opportunities in the private finance of public infrastructure such as toll roads, rail, water, power generation and transmission, and public transit including public-private partnerships.

Content and Organization

The course is organized into three modules.

Project Selection – The first module introduces a toolkit for infrastructure planning from several points of view including those of public policy makers, project developers, and capital providers.

Risk Transfer and Capital Structure – There are substantial macro level and project level exposures in long dated asses like real estate and infrastructure. This module explores techniques for risk identification and transfer as well as best practices in public-private partnerships.

Construction – The last module introduces project control tools in the critical phase between the financial close of a project and the start of stabilized operations.

Pedagogical Mix

Infrastructure lends itself to case method teaching as virtually every decision requires quantitative and qualitative analysis, judgment calls, quick thinking and development of practical action plans. "Cold calling" and active participation are frequent and important components of class.

Polls will be used frequently and are considered an important aspect of class participation. The course will have a final exam.

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