Extending award-winning research  prior papers were recognized with best paper awards at the ERES meeting and two ARES meetings - into the key drivers that create and destroy value in real estate development and deal making, this study considers the assessment as of 2016 of research initially conducted a decade ago to examine the commonalities and divergences between different approaches to development and deal-making. Through analyzing the relative contributions that major categories of activities and specific sub tasks make to creating and destroying values in real estate development and deal making, insights emerge that can guide important strategic decisions. In particular, this research isolates those tasks that are of common relative importance and development in deal making in contributing to value being created and value being destroyed. And, the research explores those tasks whose relative importance diverges in the value creation and value destruction process for development and deal making ventures. 

The results of this research can provide guidance for opportunistic strategies to create value and to mitigate against value migration and loss. These findings have powerful applications to entrepreneurial firms engaged in deal making activities, to firms engaged in real estate development, to investment managers committing capital to both deal making initiatives and development ventures, and to investors.