In this part of the world, the people who take on the risk of building and who orchestrate the creation of new buildings are typically called real estate developers. That's what I call myself. But they can go by different names depending on where you are in the world and who you are asking.

For example, when a developer is raising money for a project, another term you will often hear is "sponsor." This emphasizes their role as the financial steward of the capital they are raising, as opposed to their operational expertise as a developer/builder. But in practice, they refer to the same thing. The audience has just changed.

In French, real estate developers are typically called something else: promoteurs immobiliers. This literally translates into "real estate promoter," and it speaks to one of the primary functions of developers, which is to initiate, sell, and generally push a project forward. So this is maybe a more accurate term.

The things being developed and promoted can also take on different names. I use the word "project" to describe a new building. Seth Godin has written a lot about this term, and he differentiates it from tasks: "Important work is project work." Meaning, it contributes to something bigger. So I like to use this term for almost everything I work on.

But in British English, it is common for property developers to use something else: "scheme." You'll hear things like, "our scheme contains 250 apartment homes with retail at grade." This word has always stood out to me as odd because I see it as having negative connotations. When someone is scheming, they're up to no good. Or maybe it's just because I'm not British.

Whatever your view, if we combine the French and the British terminology, we arrive at someone who promotes schemes for a living. Hmm. I'll likely stick to "developing projects," but I think the semantics are interesting. Like it or not, it says something about how development functions as an industry, and the skills necessary to participate in it.

Cover photo by aboodi vesakaran on Unsplash

In this part of the world, the people who take on the risk of building and who orchestrate the creation of new buildings are typically called real estate developers. That's what I call myself. But they can go by different names depending on where you are in the world and who you are asking.

For example, when a developer is raising money for a project, another term you will often hear is "sponsor." This emphasizes their role as the financial steward of the capital they are raising, as opposed to their operational expertise as a developer/builder. But in practice, they refer to the same thing. The audience has just changed.

In French, real estate developers are typically called something else: promoteurs immobiliers. This literally translates into "real estate promoter," and it speaks to one of the primary functions of developers, which is to initiate, sell, and generally push a project forward. So this is maybe a more accurate term.

The things being developed and promoted can also take on different names. I use the word "project" to describe a new building. Seth Godin has written a lot about this term, and he differentiates it from tasks: "Important work is project work." Meaning, it contributes to something bigger. So I like to use this term for almost everything I work on.

But in British English, it is common for property developers to use something else: "scheme." You'll hear things like, "our scheme contains 250 apartment homes with retail at grade." This word has always stood out to me as odd because I see it as having negative connotations. When someone is scheming, they're up to no good. Or maybe it's just because I'm not British.

Whatever your view, if we combine the French and the British terminology, we arrive at someone who promotes schemes for a living. Hmm. I'll likely stick to "developing projects," but I think the semantics are interesting. Like it or not, it says something about how development functions as an industry, and the skills necessary to participate in it.

Cover photo by aboodi vesakaran on Unsplash