doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_S1-R14-cd

ABSTRACT

The large scale and long duration of major real-estate projects leaves them exposed to a wide variety of risks jeopardizing their likelihood of success. Broadly categorized, these risks fall into two groups: internal versus external. The former encompasses risks spanning the project’s various stages and activities, while the latter includes social, political, economic, and environmental risks. This paper studies risk management for both types of risks in the context of a Lebanese real-estate development program, the Beirut Central District (BCD). The collected data include input from 14 industry practitioners representing 12 development organizations working on 27 BCD projects. The data describe the frequency with which both internal and external risks were encountered. Also documented are the risk management practices and tools used for mitigating project risks. In turn, metrics for project success (e.g., schedule delays and budget overruns) were correlated to the risks encountered and risk management tools employed, allowing the quantification of the average impact of both internal and external risks. We find that political and economic risks dominate. Furthermore, we gain insight on the strengths and weaknesses of risk analysis, mitigation, absorption, and monitoring and control.

Keywords: Real estate, Developers, Project risks, Risk management, Beirut central district.

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