How do developers make money?

[Ben Glaser]

How are developers making money?

From estimates I've received there is zero money in any project I can find. Industrial, multifamily, and residential. 

Do I need to GC the project myself? Is there something I'm overlooking?

All the larger projects in my area, contract top tier contractors/builders for multifamily or commercial/industrial which can't be cheap. I don't know how they possibly make money. When I read the business journal, many of these projects sell within months or years of completion. They sometimes share the cost to build and it might be $40M to build and $42M sold. It doesn't make sense to take that big of a risk for that little of a return even though the actual return on investment is higher considering you're only putting a fraction of that in due to leveraged debt.

What am I missing? What do I need to learn about making these deals work?