McBurney Disability Resource Center dedicated at UW-Madison

UW-Madison News announced yesterday that the McBurney Disability Resource Center, which advocates for and assists students, families and the UW-Madison campus community in navigating the academic challenges and practical concerns faced by people with disabilities, will dedicate its new space at 702 W. Johnson St. in a ceremony next Wednesday April 6.

Roberta "Bobbi" Cordano ('90 JD LAW), vice president of programs for the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, and Greg Rice ('77 BBA BUS), CEO and managing partner of Executive Management Inc., will speak as part of the dedication ceremony.

Rice is a former student of James Graaskamp, whose lessons and high expectations guided him as project developer on the McBurney Center.

According to the announcement, the new location offers new opportunities and benefits including a conference room dedicated to Professor James Graaskamp, a legendary figure in the history of real estate education and research at UW-Madison and who promoted the creation of the Center and its dedication to Michael McBurney ('60 BA, '63 JD). The James Graaskamp Conference Room seats up to 20 guests and has enhanced audio/visual capabilities for accessible training and event hosting.

James Graaskamp, paralyzed as a result of polio as a teen, was a passionate teacher known for his devotion to students and intellectual oratory. Stephen Malpezzi, professor of real estate and urban land economics, relates in his paper "The Wisconsin Program in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics: A Century of Tradition and Innovation" that "while Graaskamp made few concessions to his medical problems in his personal and professional life, he was active in improving the quality of life for others facing such difficulties."

The James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate in the School of Business was dedicated in 2007. The Graaskamp Center's main goal has been to serve as a link between real estate faculty and students, alumni, the real estate professional community, governmental agencies and the general public, and to administer the Wisconsin MBA program in Real Estate. The Graaskamp Center was proud to share a portrait of Graaskamp, commissioned for the 2007 naming ceremony, to be displayed in the McBurney Center's new conference room.


"Ceremony to dedicate new McBurney Disability Resource Center at UW-Madison," UW-Madison News, March 29, 2011

Join us for the 2011 Global Real Estate Markets Conference in New York on May 2nd

The Real Estate Program at the Wisconsin School of Business and Toll Brothers are proud to bring together top developers, investors, and service providers who are in the game and on the ground in emerging markets and beyond to discuss the keys to implementing a strong cross-border real estate investment strategy.

Event: 2011 Global Real Estate Markets Conference: Opportunities and Realities
Date: May 2, 2011
Time: 9:30 am-3:30 pm
Location: New York Stock Exchange

The agenda features keynote presentations from
Richard Cantor, Chief Risk Officer at Moody’s, and
Olivier Piani, Chairman and CEO of Allianz Real Estate.

Panel discussions on:

Real Estate Roaring? The View from Emerging Markets
Hear directly from the developers of real estate investment opportunities in emerging markets.

Foreign Capital Flows into the U.S. and U.S. Capital Goes Abroad
Learn from experience with panelists who are driving cross-border investments across multiple platforms.

Building a Global Real Estate Platform
Listen to the managers of global investment platforms and their service providers.

Registration is now open. Space is limited. For the full agenda and registration information, please visit the conference website at http://www.bus.wisc.edu/grem/conferences

Home-Price Outlook for the Year

The Wall Street Journal today published the results of a survey of economists and housing analysts conducted earlier this month by MacroMarkets. Among those surveyed was Abdullah Yavas, professor of real estate and urban land economics at the Wisconsin School of Business.

The quarterly survey shows how attitudes for a housing recovery have soured: Last June, economists expected prices would gain by 1.3% this year. “The sentiment among our expert panel regarding the U.S. housing market outlook continues to deteriorate,” said Robert Shiller, the Yale University housing economist who co-founded MacroMarkets.

Around one-third of panelists expect home prices to increase in 2011. Bill Cheney, chief economist of John Hancock Financial, and Abdullah Yavas, and professor of real estate at the University of Wisconsin, are calling for a 3% annual gain.

"No Home-Price Recovery This Year," WSJ, 3/22/11

Final wrap-up from MIPIM 2011

Professor François Ortalo-Magné, chair of the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at the Wisconsin School of Business, delivered a wrap-up keynote presentation at MIPIM last week with Philippe Tannenbaum, senior analyst at IEIF (France).

For more coverage from MIPIM 2011, keep reading the Viewpoint and visit MIPIM World.

MIPIM 2011 – Wrap-up keynote address

MIPIM World, the official website featuring content from this year's MIPIM conference, posted video of today's keynote presentation by Prof. François Ortalo-Magné, Robert E. Wangard Chair in Real Estate at the Wisconsin School of Business, and Philippe Tannenbaum, Senior Advisor with IEIF France. Click to visit the MIPIM website and watch the video and view the slides from the presentation.

And please check out the rest of our coverage of MIPIM 2011 here on the Viewpoint and at MIPIM World.

Meaningful response to the global housing shortage

Reporting from MIPIM 2011 Day 3: "Participating in a Meaningful Response to the Global Housing Shortage."

We hear quite a bit these days about the moribund recovery in the U.S. housing market. There is often talk of oversupply and lack of demand for houses on the market. Yet globally, there is immense demand for even the most basic of housing. Global Housing Foundation (GHF) is a U.N. partner working to fill this need for basic housing around the world. Today at MIPIM, GHF sponsored a panel of industry players who are currently developing in markets that are perhaps a bit beyond the eye of the average institutional investor.

The biggest challenges to addressing the need better housing around the world, however, are lack of capital and the unwillingness of large capital sources to get involved in the markets where need is greatest. Some of that is due to issues around getting clean title to land (which is a dealbreaker), but oftentimes it is a simple belief that projects won't be successful. But it can be done, by building communities not just houses. And even though residents are poor, creating product that improves their lives that gets residents investing for the future.

Our coverage of MIPIM wraps up tomorrow with the "wrap-up keynote" presentation by Prof. François Ortalo-Magné and Philippe Tannebaum with IEIF on Friday.

Target: Turkey

Reporting from MIPIM 2011, Day 3:

Turkey, with the world's 15th largest economy and 17th largest population, occupies a position centrally-located not only at the door of the EU, but also between North Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Turkey boasts strong banking sector and pre-crisis fiscal performance and is forecasted to be Europe’s largest population and the the world's 9th largest economy by 2050.

Turkey’s economic conditions are favorable. CPI is currently down to 4% and is continuing to fall. Its GDP is rising and should continue to rise. Average annual real GDP growth projections are the highest of all OECD countries despite an inflation rate six-plus percent. All of which make Turkey currently the 15th most attractive FDI location.

How to make resort hotels profitable?

Reporting from MIPIM 2011: How to make resort hotels profitable?

Typically resort hotels require a higher investment per room than city hotels because of the expectations that come with resorts. For instance, resort hotels are expected to have larger rooms to accommodate for longer stays. Additionally, resorts are expected to provide a more vacation friendly setting. Resorts also require an increased investment in restaurants, spas and other amenities because of their remote locations.

One way in which hotel developers are working to increase profits is by developing resorts that are both vacation and business friendly. By accommodating business travelers and vacationers, resorts are able to increase their profits during the off-peak days of the year. In order to attract the business traveler, resort developers look to provide spaces that can function as both event and conference facilities. The transition to combine business amenities with resort amenities has seen success in some markets. However, it is important to note that this strategy can not be utilized in markets that have little business interaction in the surrounding areas. Golf, spa services, and the attraction of sporting events can also be key drivers of profits during the off-peak season.




Video via MIPIM World. For more, visit the official conference blog at blog.MIPIMWorld.com.

Emerging trends: signs of cautious optimism

Reporting from MIPIM 2011, "Real Estate Roulette: Winners & Losers: Emerging Trends 2011"

Adapting to the European market, which is facing challenges in the sovereign debt crisis, regulations and a weak lending market, is a challenge in itself. More equity is expected to flow in 2011. However, the substantial undersupply of debt is expected to continue through 2011 and be worse than previous years, making refinancing more difficult. But still, after a very gloomy prognosis for 2009, 2010 showed signs of cautious optimism. Core investment will remain king. More concerns are about the transparency, regulations and the real economy growth from investors.

More coverage of the sessions at MIPIM on the Viewpoint.

So where will investment take place in the U.S. in 2011?

Reporting from MIPIM Day 3:

After watching the U.S. property markets collapse following the financial crisis and negative returns continue into 2010, optimism was surprisingly high in the panel "US Property Markets: Where are the Opportunities?" NAREIM President Stephen Renna led the panel of investment managers to try to answer to the question Where will investment take place in 2011?

The short answer was multifamily properties in core markets. These markets, including Washington DC, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego and the Bay Area of California, all command premium rents, have strong employment growth, and high populations of the younger demographic with a higher propensity to rent.


Read the rest of our coverage of the sessions at MIPIM on the Viewpoint. Visit our partner the official MIPIM World blog for video and other exclusive content from Wisconsin.