This story is the second in a two-part series on creativity in commercial real estate. The first installment dug into ways creativity comes to life in the deal-focused retail and mixed-use real estate industry.

See Part 1 — Rethinking Retail Real Estate: The Rising Value of Creative Problem-Solving — here.

The series continues below with a story on skill development and hiring in a time when employers put a premium on creativity and problem-solving capability.
 

The Short Version 

• Creativity is emerging as a core skill in commercial real estate, valued alongside traditional technical expertise.
• AI and automation are shifting job functions, making human creativity an increasingly important differentiator.
• Companies are seeking candidates who demonstrate creative thinking in problem-solving, leasing, development and team collaboration.
• Educational programs and hands-on experiences are helping students and professionals strengthen their creative skills.
• Employers are using interviews, case studies and assessment tools to evaluate creativity during the hiring process.

Why CRE Employers Are Prioritizing Creative Skill Sets

Proven technical skills like financial analysis and contract negotiation are table stakes for many roles within commercial real estate. They’re essential to getting a foot in the door to land a new job or a new client. But one of the top skills companies are looking for today might surprise you. It’s creativity. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, creative thinking rated as one of the five core skills that more than 1,000 major employers seek most.

“Creativity as a strategic skill set is more important than it’s ever been, and that does reflect that we’re in a period of enormous and very rapid change for real estate,” said Sam Chandan, founding director of The Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the New York University Stern School of Business. Many areas of real estate are at an inflection point where there are enormous demands on leaders at all levels of organizations to think creatively and strategically, he added.

Across commercial real estate disciplines, being creative involves solving complex problems, such as putting together different deal structures, finding new capital sources and figuring out ways to reduce construction costs without impacting the quality or integrity of projects. Hiring someone who has the creativity to bring fresh ideas and find solutions is now paramount for many firms. “I do believe that more people are embracing the creative side of problem-solving than they have historically, and I think that is because of the speed of the innovation cycle in the technology world today,” said SRS Real Estate Partners vice president of human resources Gia Bond.

SRS is looking for people who excel at the “four Cs” across different roles and functions: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. Problem-solving often requires looking at problems through a different lens, added Bond. “We’re not alone when we’re looking for people that have the ability to flex into creativity, and I think you’re going to see more of that in the future with creativity becoming a top skill needed when you’re building out a team.”

CRE Jobs Evolve With AI — but Creativity Remains Key

As companies discern how to leverage artificial intelligence tools, creativity becomes a differentiator for humans. “What are people bringing to the table that AI can’t replicate? It usually comes down to two areas: interpersonal skills and human connection, and, secondly, creative thinking that goes beyond what a computer might generate,” said David Poline, president and CEO of Poline Search Partners, an executive search and advisory firm serving the commercial real estate industry.

The emergence of AI also is forcing companies to think about different ways analysts, associates and other early-career professionals can add value. Some tasks that historically have gone to these employees now can be done much more efficiently and productively with AI tools.

The core technical skills that commercial professionals will need — how to discount the cash flow, complete a pro forma, underwrite a property and think about the capital stack — remain firmly in place, noted Chandan. “We’re adding to that skills around AI and technology-driven innovation,” he said.

The most popular course he teaches covers AI applications in real estate, and even that class embeds creativity and innovative problem-solving in the curriculum. One assignment is to design a custom generative pre-training transformer, the GPT in ChatGPT, that addresses a specific issue or problem at a real estate organization. “What they quickly learn is that the technical piece of it is not the hard part,” said Chandan. “The hard part is thinking creatively about how their GPT will actually create value for the organization.”

Teaching Creativity in the Classroom and Workplace

The common myth is that creative types are “right brain” thinkers, while “left brain” thinkers are analytical and logical. Yes, the brain is split into two hemispheres that process information differently. The “left brain” is often associated with language and logic, while the “right brain” is associated with creativity and spatial reasoning. Although people might exhibit different “right” or “left” brain dominance, the reality is that everyone uses both sides of their brain.

Even someone who thinks of themselves as analytical or quantitative can express creativity in many ways. Creativity is involved in things like how you express ideas or think about alternative solutions to problems or situations. “Everyone does have that capacity, but if we don’t exercise it, it can wither,” said Chandan.

One way to develop and strengthen creativity is to work on projects that involve challenging situations that may have multiple solutions but no clear answer. In the higher-education world, that means presenting students with situations in which they have to contend with incomplete information and multiple paths forward.

MORE FROM C+CT: The 2025 ICSC & UNC Retail Real Estate Case Competition Asked Students: “Does This Property Have Long-Term Value-Creation Potential?”

Hands-on experiential learning is an important teaching tool both in the classroom and in professional practice. People also can learn from different perspectives by putting themselves in situations where they can engage with others. Chandan advised that students and professionals step outside of their comfort zones, perhaps by volunteering to be on a committee that isn’t exactly in their wheelhouse. “Whether the word creativity comes to mind or not, that’s effectively what you’re doing,” he said.

How Employers Are Identifying and Evaluating Creative Talent

Hiring for Creativity in a Competitive Market

Although employers are looking to hire creative people, it’s tough to identify the skill from a standard resume.

Open-ended questions during the interview process can help, such as: “How have you dealt with a challenging situation or problem?” That can help a hiring manager determine: Are they generating new ideas, or are they just repackaging wholesale pitches? Are they able to articulate being resourceful? What’s the latest and greatest thing they’ve learned? Do they have a sense of humor? “Communicating with a sense of humor and wit is a key indication that you’ve got an element of creativity and that you can have flexible thinking,” said Bond.

An assessment test or case study provides candidates room to show both analytical and problem-solving skills. A company can glean even more qualitative information by asking the individuals to present their solutions during the interview process. “In today’s environment, where budgets are tight and every hire is scrutinized, adding this extra layer to the interview process gives companies confidence that they’ve fully vetted candidates and selected the right fit,” said Poline.

For example, Poline Search Partners is working with a privately held real estate firm in Florida that is using a case study to help select a new director of asset management. The client is looking for creative ideas around maximizing net operating income at a particular shopping center that is already fully leased. Traditionally, there are only so many levers to pull to generate income through leasing or to reduce operating costs through things like increasing energy efficiency. Today, companies are getting more creative, such as installing electric vehicle charging stations in parking lots, adding solar panels on rooftops and incorporating pop-up kiosks.

Creative Aptitude and the Power of Assessment Tools

Some firms use personality tests to identify key candidate characteristics and qualities. Harrison Assessments, for example, look beyond qualifications to job suitability to paint a picture or profile of an individual. The results could show that a certain person may struggle in a developer role because they are less of a big-picture thinker and are more task oriented.

Harrison Assessments also can help employers and existing employees identify skills to strengthen. “Hiring someone with strong skills doesn’t mean there isn’t room for growth,” said Poline. Individuals also can take such tests of their own accord to get a better sense of their strengths and weaknesses and to identify areas for improvement.

Problem-solving creativity looks different among individuals and between those just starting their careers and seasoned professionals. The latter also tend to have more industry-specific examples to share, noted Bond. For those with more experience, she noted, the bar for analytical skills, financial ability and market knowledge is higher. Among early-career professionals, “it’s more important to know that someone is teachable and coachable and they have the critical-thinking skills.”