Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.
257.4 sec. 001 - An Interdisciplinary Approach to Land Development and Investment (Spring 2026)
Instructor: Linda Klein (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only)
Instructor: Evan Schwimmer (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
M 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Location: Law 170
From January 12, 2026
To April 28, 2026
Course End: April 28, 2026
Class Number: 33496
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 17
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 17
As of: 03/16 04:37 AM
This interdisciplinary course is intended for law, business, planning, and public policy students interested in taking a deeper dive into the real estate development and land use process, with a specific focus on California development.
This course provides a pragmatic overview of the critical considerations within each phase of the real estate development process, including site acquisition and diligence; land and site planning; environmental review; and strategies for obtaining necessary entitlements and land use approvals.
During this course, students will explore the key roles that various stakeholders play within the real estate development process, including in the private sector (landowners, real estate developers, investors, and financial partners), public sector (elected officials, city staff, and government regulators), and community (neighbors, Native American tribes, special interest groups, and labor unions). The primary focus of this course is practice rather than theory. Students from law, planning, and policy backgrounds will learn to evaluate business risks inherent to real estate development, while business students will learn the key legal and policy issues critical to the real estate development, land entitlement, and deal making processes. Students will benefit from hearing real-world perspectives from some of the Bay Area’s leading experts in land use and development, who will provide guest lectures throughout the semester.
Students are not expected to have significant prior real estate experience prior to taking this course, although some prior real estate coursework or professional experience is beneficial. All students who are eager to engage with the material and supplemental resources such as instructor office hours will be able to succeed. This course will not include financial modeling instruction and, therefore, the graded course assessments will not require any financial computations; however, financial concepts will be covered during the course and students will be expected to apply a general understanding of those concepts to real estate development decision-making. A significant component of final grades will be based on regular attendance and active participation during weekly classes.
This course contributes to the requirements for the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate offered through the graduate programs at the Haas School of Business, Berkeley School of Law, and the College of Environmental Design (including MRED+D).
INSTRUCTOR BIOS
LINDA KLEIN is a land use attorney with the firm of Cox, Castle & Nicholson, LLP, providing advice and counsel on a wide range of real estate development issues with a focus on coordination of environmental review under CEQA and obtaining development entitlements through public hearings and other administrative proceedings, as well as related litigation. She has successfully obtained land use approvals for projects large and small, mainly in the Bay Area. Linda’s practice spans a wide range of industrial, commercial, residential, and nonprofit development including warehouses, corporate campuses, large master planned projects, affordable and mixed-income housing, schools, and hospitals. She dedicates much of her practice to housing development, and regularly speaks and writes on changes in the regulatory landscape impacting housing production in California.
Linda earned her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law and immediately after law school clerked for Judge Ikuta of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Linda holds a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Bachelor of Arts in Art and Art History from Rice University. Linda is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, serving on the San Francisco Housing the Bay Committee, and Bay Area Council, where she co-chairs the Project Endorsement Subcommittee.
EVAN SCHWIMMER is a real estate investment and development executive with over 20 years of experience working across a variety of roles in the commercial real estate industry. Evan has acquired, managed and delivered over 9 million square feet of life science, office, hospitality and other projects in various regions in the United States valued at more than $7 billion. Evan is currently Chief Executive Officer of Plumforge Partners, a real estate investment, development and advisory platform. Prior to launching Plumforge, Evan served as Managing Director for Longfellow Real Estate Partners’ San Francisco Bay Area office where he was responsible for strategic growth and oversight of the business across 2.4M sf of existing properties and 4.2M sf of life science development pipeline in Northern California. Prior to Longfellow, Evan managed the San Francisco office of The John Buck Company with responsibilities for West Coast investment and development in office and residential valued at over $1.8 billion. He also served in other capacities including acquisition and development of office properties for the Irvine Company’s Northern California region and at Starwood Capital Group.
Evan holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from Princeton University and a MBA from the University of California, Berkeley with a Certificate in Real Estate. Prior to attending graduate school, Evan served as an Engineer officer in the US Army while stationed in the United State and overseas. Evan is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) serving on the ULI NEXT Committee, NAIOP with service to the Membership Committee, and the Berkeley Real Estate Alumni Association (BREAA) where he is President Emeritus and a member of the BREAA Advisory Board.
Attendance at the first class is mandatory for all currently enrolled and waitlisted students; any currently enrolled or waitlisted students who are not present on the first day of class (without prior permission of the instructor) will be dropped. The instructor will continue to take attendance throughout the add/drop period and anyone who moves off the waitlist into the class must continue to attend or have prior permission of the instructor in order not to be dropped.
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Requirements Satisfaction:
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Submit teaching evaluations for this course between 13-APR-26 and 28-APR-26
Exam Notes: (SP) Presentations that count for a significant portion of the grade
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Course Category: Business Law
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