Real Estate Development Pro Forma

A development pro forma is the single most important document on any ground-up project. It tells you whether the deal works, where it breaks, and what assumptions you have to defend. River turns the pro forma from a fragile, copy-pasted spreadsheet into a living workspace where the model, the assumptions, the source materials, and the investor-facing artifacts all stay in sync.

What's in this Space

• Inputs folder for the parcel description, market comps, cost basis, and program assumptions.
• Model folder with a working pro forma, sensitivity analysis, and scenario tabs.
• Outputs folder with investor and lender materials drafted from the model.
• Operating Manual that teaches River AI how you underwrite — return targets, exit assumptions, sensitivity ranges, and the way you defend land basis.

What you'll do here

1. Drop in the deal. Paste the parcel write-up, market comps, and your hard/soft cost benchmarks into the Inputs folder. Upload the broker's OM and any survey or zoning materials.
2. Build the model. Open the Pro Forma Workbook. River reads the inputs and walks you through hard costs, soft costs, financing, lease-up or sales, and exit. You stay in control of every line.
3. Stress the deal. The Sensitivity Analysis sheet tests the two variables that move the deal most — typically rent or sale price and exit cap or hard cost.
4. Generate investor and lender materials. Ask River to draft a one-page investment summary or a lender package from the model. The narrative pulls live from the workbook so the numbers can never drift.

What it's good for

• Underwriting a new acquisition before you commit equity or earnest money.
• Building defensible IC and lender packages that match the working model exactly.
• Stress-testing the deal across rent, cost, exit, and timing so you know where it breaks.
• Rolling the model forward as actuals come in without rebuilding it from scratch.

How it works

Every section of the workbook is a structured Sheet that River AI can read. When you ask "What does the deal look like at a 5.5% exit cap?" or "Update the IC summary with the new construction estimate," River edits the right tab, recomputes the dependent outputs, and updates the narrative. The Operating Manual keeps the AI honest about your firm's underwriting standards.

How to get started

1. Click Use Template to create your Space.
2. Open the Setup Guide in the Config folder and follow Steps 1–4.
3. Edit the Operating Manual to reflect your firm's underwriting standards.
4. Drop your first deal into the Inputs folder and ask River to build the pro forma.