Capital Square’s 2024 Internship Program

In 2024, Capital Square’s robust internship program allowed our interns to focus deeply within two departments of our firm.

By concentrating their time and efforts with either our development team or within our accounting department, our 2024 interns – Corey Gutenberger (Elon University), Ian Johnson (Longwood University) and Alex Krawchuk (American University) – had the opportunity to discover how we build legacies for investors, team members and communities, while further developing their own futures.

The following are our interns’ summer experience highlights in their own words:

2024 Capital Square Development Internship Takeaways

• Observing the development team’s efficient and pre-planned communication style
• Gaining an understanding of project management fundamentals, including balancing time, money and quality
• Learning to read construction plans and manage documentation processes, including Requests for Information (RFIs), submittals and various design stages such as Schematic Design (SD), Design Development (DD) and Construction Documents (CD)
• Engaging in Owner, Architect, Contractor (OAC) meetings and understanding the significance of different cost types and project specifications
• Developing skills in financial analysis and market dynamics, including pro forma analysis and understanding income, expenses and debt services in commercial real estate projections
• Learning key financial metrics including cash-on-cash return, internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV)
• Experiencing and participating in meetings with design teams and Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FFE) to discuss marketing options, storage and delivery times
• Becoming familiar with zoning and regulatory compliance, including overlay and shoreland zoning, and engaging with permit expediters, as well as coming to understand the importance of compliance in real estate development and the impact of zoning laws on project feasibility
• Acquiring knowledge of real estate investment strategies, specifically 1031 exchanges and Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs), and their tax advantages, in addition to understanding the rules and processes involved, such as the 45-day identification rule and 180-day completion rule, and the benefits of DSTs over Tenants in Common (TICs)

2024 Capital Square’s Accounting Internship Takeaways

• Rapidly learning and applying Capital Square’s accounting procedures and integrated software systems, including Yardi
• Utilizing advanced Excel functions to efficiently manage and analyze financial data
• Understanding the advantages of proactively communicating and demonstrating initiative in seeking clarification and guidance, ensuring accuracy and understanding of critical financial information
• Effectively navigating varying project timelines and identifying opportunities for improving time management and task prioritization

Our 2024 internships, like past internships, integrated theoretical knowledge with practical applications. Opportunities for proactive engagement, efficient communication and professional growth enabled our interns to not only gain experience on their resumes but also to advance skills that they may take forward with them in their future endeavors. Their willingness to approach every day with zeal and every challenge head-on created a summer program that was deeply beneficial to everyone involved.

Thank you to Capital Square’s two vice presidents of development, Hunter Wilson and Prescott Woolley; Capital Square’s Assistant Controller, Dori Burger; and Capital Square’s Talent Acquisition Manager, Laura Gomez, for leading this year’s internship programs. We see great things ahead for our 2024 intern class.