TILT Real Estate Development Pro Forma: Model Features

A real estate development pro forma gets difficult when a project stops behaving like a simple land purchase followed by one construction loan and one sale. Phases overlap. Costs move. Some units lease while others sell. New capital arrives with restrictions. The partnership waterfall still has to reconcile.

The TILT Real Estate Development Model is built for that full sequence. This article is a first-party reference to what the model does, how its major modules connect, and which outputs it produces. For a broader view of the work surrounding the spreadsheet, start with the commercial real estate development checklist.

What Is the TILT Real Estate Development Pro Forma?

The TILT real estate development pro forma is a macro-enabled Excel model for underwriting ground-up development and, where configured, redevelopment from land acquisition through construction, operations, refinancing, partnership distributions, and exit. Selected configurations can combine residential, commercial, hotel, and land uses in one connected workbook.

The model is designed around monthly project cash flow. Timing entered in one part of the workbook drives costs, debt draws, operations, exits, and equity needs elsewhere. All principal assumptions sit on one input sheet, while more than 50 output sheets present the results for analysis, investor review, lender review, and internal decision-making.

How Are Inputs Organized in the Development Model?

All principal assumptions are organized on one input sheet with categorized sections and a persistent hyperlinked table of contents. Users can move directly among property, schedule, revenue, cost, debt, equity, and exit inputs, while output sheets remain separate for analysis and presentation.

The input structure is not a flat checklist. Sections respond to the deal configuration. A unit type can be operated, sold, or treated as land. Operating-revenue sections apply to units held for operation, while sales and holding-cost logic applies to units built for sale. Unused sections can remain empty, and the workbook can hide zero-value rows and unneeded output sheets for a cleaner review file.

Workflow features include:

• One-page assumptions: Property details, timing, revenue, costs, debt, equity, and exit assumptions are categorized in one place.
• Hyperlinked navigation: The input table of contents links to each section, and the output table of contents links across the reporting package.
• Flexible input units: Depending on the item, assumptions can be entered by square foot, gross square foot, rentable square foot, unit, acre, bed, month, year, percentage, or total dollars.
• Input checks: The workbook identifies common assumption errors with labeled warnings.
• Presentation controls: Users can hide zero rows, show or hide output sheets, reorder reports, and print selected outputs as a packet.
• Live return visibility: IRR, equity multiple, and other key metrics remain visible while assumptions change.

How Does the Model Handle Development Phases and Project Costs?

The model supports up to 20 development phases, and each phase can run sequentially or overlap with other phases. Phase dates can control horizontal work, vertical construction, soft costs, loan availability, and operating starts, connecting the schedule to monthly project cash flow. A schedule change can then flow through the project rather than being rebuilt line by line.

The cost modules cover land, sitework, hard costs, soft costs, fees, contingencies, financing costs, and operating shortfalls.

Land acquisition

Land can be modeled four ways:

• A single purchase date
• Multiple purchases with separate dates and amounts
• A lot takedown schedule with units per month and optional price escalation
• Purchases tied to residential unit types

Closing costs can be entered as a percentage of price and as itemized dollar amounts.

Horizontal development and sitework

The horizontal-cost module supports up to 50 line items. Each cost can use its own category and detail name, follow specific dates, or tie to a development phase. A separate contingency can be applied to sitework.

Hard costs

Commercial, residential, and hotel construction costs can be modeled separately. Depending on the deal, hard costs can be entered as:

• Dollars per rentable square foot
• Dollars per gross square foot
• Dollars per unit
• A total dollar amount
• A monthly cost curve
• Up to 50 itemized costs spread across the construction period
• Up to 50 draw-schedule items with specific start and end dates
• Dollar amounts tied to development phases
• Dollar amounts by unit type

The model can apply construction-cost inflation monthly over the hard-cost period and add a separate hard-cost contingency. Building-efficiency assumptions can translate rentable area into gross area when the cost method requires it.

Soft costs and sponsor fees

The workbook supports up to 100 itemized soft costs. Each line can be a total amount, an amount per rentable square foot, or an amount per month. Timing can use fixed dates or named phases. Development and construction-management fees can be calculated from selected project-cost bases and either paid in cash or earned as equity. Soft costs can carry their own contingency.

How Are Revenue, Lease-Up, and Operations Modeled?

Each commercial or residential unit type can carry its own area, unit count, lease-up schedule, revenue method, operating assumptions, and exit treatment, while hotel operations use a dedicated forecast structure. Configured mixed-use projects can therefore combine operated assets, for-sale units, land, and hotel uses without averaging them into one profile.

The model supports up to 20 commercial unit types and 40 residential unit types, with any number of physical units inside each type. Lease-up can happen across the project as a whole or separately by unit type. Each type can have its own stabilization duration and pre-leasing percentage, and the monthly forecast recognizes vacancy during lease-up.

Revenue and operating features include:

• Rent and lease income: Enter rent per square foot per year, per square foot per month, per unit per year, per unit per month, per acre per year, or, for commercial space, as a percentage of tenant revenue.
• Commercial reimbursements: Turn NNN expense reimbursements on or off by commercial unit type, including the effect of vacancy.
• Other revenue: Add recurring or one-time items such as parking, pet, and application fees, with the amount and percentage of units paying.
• Operating expenses: Use up to 30 commercial and 30 residential expense lines entered per year, unit, square foot, percentage of rent, or bed where applicable.
• Expense ramp-up: Start an expense in full with the first leased unit or scale it with occupancy.
• Vacancy and credit loss: Enter vacancy, concessions, and bad debt separately by year.
• Growth assumptions: Set rent growth, other-revenue inflation, and operating-expense inflation year by year.
• Property-tax abatements: Model annual tax and abatement amounts, including an exit-valuation adjustment and the present value of remaining abatements when applicable.
• For-sale holding costs: Apply up to three holding costs to each for-sale unit type and reduce them as units sell.
• Hotel operations: Forecast occupancy, ADR, departmental revenue and expense, undistributed expense, fixed expense, fees, and furniture, fixtures, and equipment reserves.
• Operating reserve: Retain cash until a target reserve balance is funded after debt service.

How Does the Model Handle Exit Timing and Value?

A project can exit as one transaction or sell different segments at different dates using separate valuation methods, sales periods, closing costs, and debt-paydown rules. The same logic can direct sale proceeds to debt repayment, remaining project costs, or equity distributions according to the modeled structure. This matters for phased and mixed-use developments where land, condominiums, commercial space, or stabilized rental assets may leave the project at different points.

For a single exit, the user enters a sale date and either an exit capitalization rate or a dollar value. For a segmented exit, each unit type can have its own sale start date, sales duration, valuation method, and closing costs. The model can direct a specified share of each segment's sale proceeds to construction-loan repayment while leaving the balance available for project costs or equity distributions.

The same logic can use NOI or asset-sale proceeds generated during development to fund remaining project costs. For example, proceeds from condominium sales can reduce the need for additional construction debt while apartments on the same site are still under construction.

How Does the Model Build the Capital Stack?

Depending on the selected model version and optional modules, the capital stack can combine construction debt, land debt, mezzanine debt, grants, alternative loans, tax-credit proceeds, permanent debt, refinancing, and GP and LP equity. Each source can retain separate availability, use, draw, interest, amortization, and repayment logic.

Construction loan

The construction loan can become available on a fixed date or at the start of a development phase. It can be sized by loan-to-cost, a dollar amount, or a percentage of stabilized value. The loan can use a fixed rate or a projected reference-rate curve plus a spread, cap, and floor. Closing costs can combine percentage-based and dollar inputs.

The workbook calculates monthly construction-loan draws, interest accrual, and payoff timing without circular references or iterative calculation. A dedicated output sheet shows the loan cash flow.

Mezzanine debt and grants

Mezzanine debt can become available across as many as five dates. The user controls whether equity or mezzanine debt funds first, whether interest accrues on drawn or committed capital, and whether principal and accrued interest repay from available cash, a refinance, an exit, or a required date.

Grants can arrive on up to 20 dates and can be given a project-specific name in the reports. Once available, the proceeds can fund project costs according to the modeled cash needs.

Permanent and refinance debt

The construction loan can extend into a post-construction period or be replaced by an amortizing loan. The model includes interest-only months, amortization, interest rate, and origination fees.

Refinance timing can be a fixed date or a stated number of months after stabilization. Value can use forward or trailing 12-month NOI and a selected capitalization rate. Refinance debt can be sized by LTV, DSCR, debt yield, or a dollar amount. The model shows the LTV needed to retire existing debt and the net proceeds remaining after payoff. Up to two additional refinance loans can follow the first.

Alternative loans and restricted sources

Where included, two alternative-loan modules address financing that does not behave like a conventional construction loan. They can represent CPACE, a second construction facility, TIF-related debt, or another source with its own lending rules. Depending on the module, proceeds can be entered monthly, as a fixed commitment, or as funding restricted to selected project costs. The user can control rate changes, interest on interest, amortization, and repayment from refinance or sale proceeds.

Tax credits and TIF proceeds

Where included, the tax-credit module can model two credit layers, such as federal and state credits. Inputs cover qualified rehabilitation expenditures or another eligible cost base, credit rates, sale price per credit, upfront investor payments, and a bridge loan for proceeds received later.

Where included, a separate TIF module can estimate post-exit incentive proceeds using taxable value, levy rate, the share of property tax returned, annual growth, payment term, payment delay, and discount rate. The model calculates the present value of those future receipts for the applicable stakeholder analysis.

How Are GP and LP Equity and Waterfalls Modeled?

The equity module calculates monthly capital needs, allocates contributions between GP and LP capital, and distributes available cash through preferred return, return of capital, fixed splits, GP catch-ups, or a waterfall with up to five hurdle tiers. Contribution timing and allocation choices flow into partner-level cash flows and returns.

The model raises enough equity to prevent a negative project cash balance after accounting for available debt and other funding. The GP or LP share can be entered as a percentage or dollar amount. Contributions can occur together as needed, or GP capital can fund before LP capital.

Distribution controls include:

• Preferred return before return of capital
• Cumulative or cumulative-and-compounding preferred return
• Optional preferred return for GP capital
• Pari passu return of capital or LP-first return of capital
• Monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or annual distributions
• Return of capital from all positive cash flow or only from capital events
• Fixed-percentage profit splits
• GP catch-up based on defined LP or total-return measures
• Waterfalls entered as LP shares or GP promote percentages across as many as five hurdles

Up to six LPs and six GPs can be modeled separately. Each partner can contribute cash, receive credit for non-cash contributions such as land, and use an allocation that differs from contributed capital where the transaction documents require it. GP-level allocations can also divide acquisition fees, cash development fees, development fees earned as equity, asset-management fees, disposition fees, and applicable TIF proceeds.

For a plain-language explanation of these mechanics, see Understanding Equity Waterfalls in Real Estate. The governing partnership and loan documents still control the actual transaction terms. The workbook should reproduce those terms, not replace legal or tax review.

What Reports and Analyses Does the Development Model Produce?

The model produces more than 50 output sheets covering executive summaries, project and partner cash flow, uses and sources, costs, operating performance, debt, waterfalls, sensitivities, and presentation charts. Reports can be shown or hidden, reordered, and printed in selected packets for lenders, investors, partners, or internal review.

The output library includes the following groups.

Executive and return summaries

• Deal Summary 1, Deal Summary 2, and a for-sale Deal Summary
• Metrics and Summary Analysis
• LP Cash Flow and GP Cash Flow
• Return Breakdown and Shareholder Return Detail
• Hypothetical Investment analysis

Project cash flow and costs

• Cash In Cash Out and Levered Cash Flow
• Uses & Sources A and Uses & Sources B
• Project Cost
• Distributable Cash A and Distributable Cash B
• Development Costs Chart and Uses & Sources Chart

Operations and valuation

• Cash Flow from Operations and Operating Summary
• Untrended and Stabilized Pro Forma
• Detailed and Compact Pro Forma
• Commercial and Residential unit-by-unit pro formas
• Hotel Pro Forma and Unit Summary
• Exit Analysis, Exit Details, and Rents per unit or area
• NOI Chart and NOI vs. Debt Service Chart

Debt and partnership detail

• Debt Detail and Construction Loan Cash Flow
• Mezz Cash Flow
• Alternative Loan 1 and Alternative Loan 2 cash flows
• Waterfall Detail
• LP Cash Flow Chart and GP Cash Flow Chart
• LIHTC assumptions and proceeds

Scenario and sensitivity analysis

• Cash-on-Cash Scenarios
• Exit Scenarios across potential sale years
• Two-Way Scenarios combining two return drivers
• Sensitivity Data Tables for project cost, construction-loan rate, rent, vacancy, exit value, and other assumptions
• Untrended Analysis comparing trended and untrended earnings
• Breakeven Chart

The Gantt output presents development phases and timing. Other charts show cumulative LP and GP cash flow, uses and sources, development costs, NOI, and debt service. The purpose is not to create more tabs for their own sake. It is to let a developer choose the level of detail appropriate for a lender, partner, investor, or internal review.

What Types of Projects Fit the Model?

The development model can underwrite a single-use residential, commercial, or hotel project and, in a mixed-use configuration, combine those uses in one plan. Different segments can retain separate lease-up, operating, cost, financing, and exit assumptions while sharing land, schedule, project cash flow, and partnership structure.

Supported applications include multifamily, apartments, condominiums, single-family and townhome development, student and senior housing, affordable housing, office, retail, industrial, warehouse, self-storage, hotel, land development, and mixed-use projects. The model can also combine for-sale and for-rent components in one project.

Complexity alone does not determine fit. A small deal with one unusual capital source may need more modeling flexibility than a much larger single-use project. The practical test is whether the project requires connected monthly treatment of timing, costs, operating uses, debt, equity, and exits.

How Does the Excel Workflow Differ from a Cloud Platform?

The TILT Development Model is a downloadable, macro-enabled Excel workbook rather than a browser-based subscription platform. Files stay local, the model can be used offline, and there is no per-seat licensing. Users work in Excel and enable the workbook's macros for its navigation and workflow features.

The model has been refined through more than a decade of use and can be customized for transaction-specific requirements. Technical support comes directly from TILT, including help understanding the workbook and scoping additions when a project requires a financing structure, output, or waterfall not covered by the standard build.

Before selecting any development model, confirm five things against the actual deal:

1. Property uses: Can one file model every operated, for-sale, hotel, and land component?
2. Timing: Do schedule changes update costs, funding, operations, and exits together?
3. Capital stack: Can each source follow its real availability, permitted uses, draw order, and repayment terms?
4. Partnership terms: Can the model reproduce the contribution and distribution language in the governing documents?
5. Outputs: Can the developer explain and reconcile the reports required by lenders, investors, and internal decision-makers?

Frequently Asked Questions