Vice President of Real Estate Development
Location: Austin, TX | Reports To: Evan Baehr, CEO
You will turn vision into permits, paper, and places.
Why Arena Hall?
Note from Evan Baehr, Founder & CEO of Arena Hall.
Arena Hall is where builders, investors, and policymakers work together to shape what comes next. Headquartered in Austin with two operating locations and national expansion underway, the organization sits at the intersection of capital, policy, and innovation, turning ideas into initiatives that scale.
Its community includes founders of high-growth companies, investors in frontier technologies, cultural figures shaping public dialogue, and policy leaders driving reform across education, health, and energy. Arena Hall connects these leaders through work that bridges sectors, where conversation becomes collaboration, and collaboration leads to measurable impact.
Beyond convening, Arena Hall runs venture and philanthropic initiatives, applied research, and civic and commercial projects that advance a belief in progress through enterprise and stewardship. At its core, the organization is building a new model for leadership infrastructure that fuses business creation, civic innovation, and cultural strategy under one roof to accelerate the ideas that will define the next decade.
The Opportunity
Arena Hall is growing and seeks a development-first leader to steward current assets and in-progress projects while moving new opportunities from vision to reality. This role turns ideas into permits, documents, and measurable progress. The VP of Real Estate Development will oversee entitlements, lease administration, landlord relations, revenue-share reporting, and vendor and contract flow. Acting as the owner’s representative with architects and general contractors while construction is led by the internal build team, this leader converts milestones into concise, investor-ready updates.
The VP also leads deal structuring and the capital stack. That includes OpCo/PropCo plays, warm-shell and TI packages, revenue shares, ROFR and expansion rights, and city-by-city funding partners such as grants, PRIs, and DAF loans alongside equity. They run a weekly portfolio rhythm with a single source of truth, clear R/Y/G status, risks, and decisions due. They build a repeatable development playbook for the next cities and use bench PM capacity for administrative surge so time is spent on the highest-leverage work.
What You’ll Build
Deal structuring & capital stack (OpCo/PropCo). Structure off-balance sheet growth strategies including ground leases, warm-shell/TI arrangements, ROFR/expansion rights, and revenue shares. Build and manage relationships with city-by-city capital partners. Model and negotiate bespoke "playbook" structures that unlock multi-city scale while protecting brand control and unit economics.
Capital markets partnering. Lead financing workstreams for each project (NEH grants, program-related investments, DAF low-interest loans, equity sleeves) in partnership with CEO. Own the capital plan memo and timeline for each asset, and participate in roadshow presentations to prospective investors and partners.
Portfolio operating rhythm & Portfolio Council. Establish and run a weekly Portfolio Council as a core operating deliverable: R/Y/G status by asset, risk log, decisions due with owner and dates, maintained in Airtable/Notion as single source of truth. Decision logs and issue registers with clear SLAs. Regularly monitor and analyze the portfolio to identify value-enhancement opportunities.
Lease administration & landlord relations. Maintain strategic landlord relationships and oversee lease compliance systems. Drive resolution of material issues and audit responses. Establish protocols for tracking obligations, notices, and critical dates—with execution support from PM/Coordinator resources—to protect long-term asset value and Arena's reputation with property owners.
Revenue-share & financial reporting. Design and oversee the revenue-share reporting framework in partnership with Finance. Ensure percent-rent/participation calculations are accurately tied to POS/GL systems. Establish landlord reporting cadence and audit defense protocols; delegate execution to Finance and PM support while maintaining strategic oversight.
Entitlement strategy & government relations. Develop and execute end-to-end entitlement strategy: conditional use sequencing, expeditor deployment, pre-briefs with neighbors and city officials, and alternative code pathways. Author the approvals calendar and hearing narrative for each project. Coordinate with counsel/consultants and engage thoughtfully with neighbors and city stakeholders to build support and minimize opposition.
Owner's rep coordination (not GC). Partner with architect/GC as owner's representative on design→bid→build. Establish decision frameworks for submittals/RFIs, long-lead items, value engineering, and change approval policy. Protect schedule and budget without overspend; deploy external PM capacity (Ivy or bench resources) for surge execution needs. (Day-to-day facilities ops is owned by Operations.)
Repeatable development playbook. Create a comprehensive, repeatable development playbook (first-year deliverable) to unlock cities #2–3: site criteria matrix, standard deal terms, design kit-of-parts, entitlement pathway templates by city type, capital structure options, and approval process maps. This playbook becomes the foundation for scalable growth.
Deal structuring for existing assets. Negotiate strategic amendments, extensions, expansions/ROFRs, side letters, and JV/co-operation agreements (e.g., catering). Structure terms that protect brand control and unit economics.
Vendor & contract coordination. Establish vendor management frameworks: scope agreements, performance SLAs, insurance/indemnity alignment, and close-out standards. Oversee execution with support from operations and PM resources.
Capital story & reporting. Project-based contribution to fundraising materials. Clear, periodic investor updates that tie milestones, risks, and use-of-funds to each development.
Key Deliverables & Success Metrics
Weekly: Portfolio Council pack with R/Y/G status, risk log, decisions due, and blockers by asset
Per Project: Capital Plan Memos, Entitlement Briefs with approvals calendar, Lease Levers Matrix (amendments/side letters analysis)
First Year: Repeatable Development Playbook (v1.0) with site criteria, standard terms, entitlement templates, capital structures
Success KPIs: % of decisions made on time, schedule variance by project, CapEx variance, time-to-yes on landlord requests, entitlement milestone attainment
What You’ll Bring
5 - 8+ years in real estate development, tenant-side growth, or investment roles with multi-unit, design-forward hospitality/retail.
Track record running urban hospitality/retail projects from paper to permits to opening—comfortable in hearings and engaging with city staff.
Demonstrated pattern of protecting brand, design intent, and member/guest experience while delivering projects on time and on budget. Strong judgment at the intersection of hospitality excellence and real estate discipline.
Hands-on experience structuring creative capital solutions: ground leases, OpCo/PropCo splits, TI negotiations, ROFR/expansion clauses, revenue-share arrangements, and working with diverse capital partners (institutional, family office, grants, mission-aligned).
Strategic fluency with lease mechanics and commercial terms: experience establishing lease compliance systems, navigating amendments/estoppels/defaults/cures, and protecting landlord relationships—capable of designing frameworks that others execute rather than document-level administration.
Working knowledge of percent rent, TI/CapEx, and unit economics---able to reconcile to GL/POS and defend assumptions to investors.
Portfolio systems architect—builds dashboards and cadence rhythms that drive weekly operating discipline, surface risks early, and unblock teams quickly. Experience establishing governance frameworks (Portfolio Council or equivalent).
Bias to action, clear writing, tight vendor management, and a high bar for design and hospitality details.
Productive ties with brokers, landlords/owners, counsel, and city stakeholders; able to open doors and get early looks.
You’ll Thrive in Arena Hall’s Culture if You:
Are naturally curious—engaged with today’s events and inspired by ideas that shape the future.
Have a deep love for community and hospitality, and believe in their power to transform lives.
Can move fluidly between strategic decision-making and hands-on execution to keep momentum.
Embrace ambiguity and see it as an opportunity to create clarity and structure.
Bring startup experience and the resilience to build from the ground up.
Have “zero to one” experience—launching new initiatives, not just scaling existing ones.
Enjoy discovering and implementing tools that make work smarter, faster, and more effective.
Compensation & Benefits
Package: base + bonus + equity, aligned with experience and impact
Benefits: Health, dental, and vision insurance; Paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave; Professional development opportunities; Access to Arena Hall’s community events and programming.