UW team places 1st in NAIOP case competition

Congratulations to the UW-Madison undergraduate real estate team for placing first at the highly competitive NAIOP 2010 University Real Estate Challenge hosted by the Minnesota chapter.

Our passionate team consisting of Andrew Berger, Alissa Kearney, Scott Larson, Katelyn Murray and Nate Ross worked hard on this project--under the supervision of Arif Qureshi, UW lecturer in commercial real estate development--with the determined goal of WOW'ing the judges and 130+ Minnesota NAIOP Chapter members in attendance. Thank you to everyone who helped prepare our team and provide valuable feedback.

Look for more information on the competition in our May newsletter. Click here to join our email list (via Constant Contact).

MBA Spring Ball

Meet Our Current Students, a series of posts from current real estate MBA students on their experiences in the program:

The Graduate Business Association (GBA) hosted the Spring Ball (aka MBA Prom) last weekend. The event was held at the Monona Terrace, a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece on Lake Monona in downtown Madison. The event's theme "A Night in Las Vegas" suited the glamour and excitement of the evening.

Dean Michael Knetter kicked things off by introducing students of the incoming class, and then we were off! Food and drinks were accompanied by Vegas-style gaming - but without real money (there are still laws against that here in Wisconsin). Elvis Presley made a brief appearance, and real estate's own Siegfried & Roy performed all night with their tiger, Montecore.

The "prom" was a welcome respite from the rigors of finishing up the year and finding an internship. Now it is back to the grindstone until May 14th!

Travis Campbell is a first year MBA student in the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the Wisconsin School of Business. He is presently enjoying a beautiful spring day in Madison.

Spring meeting of our Board of Advisors

Last week we were in Chicago at the Gleacher Center for the spring meeting of our Board of Advisors. The spring 2010 meeting featured a particularly compelling agenda including our keynote speaker Sam Zell and panels addressing the state of the industry, opportunistic investing and the outlook on healthcare.

Pictured: Academic Director Stephen Malpezzi, Sam Zell, Executive Director Michael Brennan

The board meets twice a year--in the fall on our hometurf in Madison and in the spring in nearby Chicago--to hear from experts on important issues facing the real estate industry and to discuss the economy and business trends. The next meeting will be September 15-16, 2010 in Madison.

The Board is a core support group for the Graaskamp Center, advising the Center on its agenda, participating in exclusive bi-annual board meetings, and contributing to the Wisconsin Real Estate Tradition as guest lecturers and mentoring students. Comprised of representatives from the professional community including the private, corporate, public, and non-profit sectors, board members work in the wide array of functional areas related to real estate and urban development such as brokerage, property management, consulting, development, appraisal, investment, asset management, law, mortgage banking, lending, corporate real estate, institutional investment, syndication, planning, regulation, and design. We're grateful to board members for their support of the Wisconsin Real Estate Program. Board membership is by invitation only.

We will have more photos and a recap of the meeting on our website very soon. To stay up to date on the Wisconsin Real Estate Program events and opportunities, sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Photos by Steve Becker © Steve Becker Media

Graaskamp real estate MBA in review

Joe Stampone, NYU real estate student and blogger at A Student of the Real Estate Game, talked to first-year Wisconsin MBA student Alex Livadas recently about his experiences within the Graaskamp Center MBA program. In particular, Alex highlighted the "balance of finance and development courses along with a large and loyal network of alumni around the country" and the unique "international focus and the Applied Real Estate Investment Track (AREIT)."

Every year, students take an international real estate seminar and first year students attend the MIPIM conference in Cannes, while second year students choose an international location to visit (Brazil and China were past trips). Also, the AREIT track allows a small group of students to manage an active portfolio of REITs (~$1 M) which offers great investment management experience and exposure to capital markets.

My classmates also provide a broad range of experiences from design, development, finance, planning, etc and the professors do a great job tying in their outside work and research into the classroom, which gives a unique perspective on different real estate topics. All in all, my first year has been a great experience and I’d highly recommend it.

Thanks, Alex! You can read the rest of the review here, and you can find out more about our real estate MBA program here.

UW goes global with new real estate program

WisBusiness.com posted an article today on the new Global Real Estate Master (GREM) program, a new two-phase program that combines high-level instruction in economics, finance, and real estate finance at one of three partner schools with training in the principles of international real estate during a capstone semester at the Wisconsin School of Business.

In the first phase of the program...students will spend up to three semesters studying economics and finance to earn an MBA or master of science in a business field. Then, in January 2011, the first participants will arrive in Madison for the real estate component of their degrees.

In the article, program director François Ortalo-Magné discusses the roots and growth of this new degree program.

“We figured we could leverage our expertise here in real estate and put together a consortium of schools from around the world that would use their prestige and brand recognition to source students for us and also generate a very high quality of teaching.”

He also "hopes that the global real estate program can serve as a model for other areas of excellence at UW-Madison."

Go to WisBusiness.com to read the full article and visit bus.wisc.edu/grem for more information on this innovative new degree option.

MIPIM 2010: Wrap-up keynote video

MIPIM 2010: Trends and Networking Opportunities

Here is the next installment in our continuing series Meet Our Current Students; this one shares an MBA student's views on MIPIM:

Last week's MIPIM conference in Cannes, France proved to be an enlightening experience. In addition to meeting industry leaders from around the globe, my fellow class members and I attended panel discussions and posted summary posts here on this blog (see keyword: MIPIM for more coverage). Overall, the real estate industry appears upbeat coming out of the recent market downturn.

In the evenings, we continued networking at private parties hosted by various real estate firms. On Wednesday, we attended the RICS Professional Bodies Reception in a pavilion on the beach. Although lesser known in the United States, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) was founded in London in 1868 and has become the preeminent global organization of real estate professionals.

It is difficult to pick out one defining moment of the MIPIM conference, but the RICS reception was definitely a highlight for me. We met with the outgoing President Max Crofts, the incoming President Robert Peto, and CEO Louis Armstrong. They discussed the continued role of RICS as a leader in the global real estate marketplace.

I spoke with a variety of industry professionals who emphasized the value of RICS. The designation provides clients an assurance of high competence and ethical standards, and has become essential for international work. The opportunity to network with such a prestigious group proved invaluable to our professional growth at MIPIM.

Travis Campbell is a first year MBA student in the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the Wisconsin School of Business. He is looking forward to pursuing his RICS designation upon graduation and joining the global network of real estate professionals.

MIPIM 2010: Signs of economic recovery

During the closing session of MIPIM 2010 in Cannes, UW Real Estate faculty member and department chair François Ortalo-Magné and Dr. Thomas Beyerle, head of global research for Aberdeen Property Investors, presented on the signs of economic recovery in U.S., Europe and the rest of the world. The full slide presentation is available below. Your comments/questions are welcome!

MIPIM 2010: Outlook: Turkey

Wisconsin Real Estate MBAs report from MIPIM 2010:

Panel: Recovery of the Real Estate Sector in Turkey

Turkey’s retail market has seen significant growth in recent years and has continued to expand its supply despite the crisis. However, as a result, rents have fallen by approximately 15 to 20%. The office market has performed better than the retail market throughout the crisis. Higher quality office space is currently undersupplied in the market. There will likely be significant opportunity in the future for value-add development in the conversion of Class-B office properties.

There is currently a large gap between foreign investor price expectations and local owner price expectations, which has caused the limited sales. While rents have declined, local owners have been less affected due to lower debt levels, and therefore have not been forced to sell properties at depressed prices to raise capital.

For more coverage of MIPIM 2010, visit our partner CREOpoint.com.

MIPIM 2010: Core is king

Wisconsin Real Estate MBAs report from MIPIM 2010:

Panel: A Year of Reckoning—Emerging Trends 2010

The Pricewaterhouse Coopers Emerging Trends in Real Estate (Europe) report 2010 highlights the fact that there is cautious optimism in the real estate market, but we should “expect a long, slow haul.” Two major problems may hinder the pace of the real estate recovery. First, concerns over the overall economy and what will happen when state aid ends. Second is the massive amount of refinancing looming in the next few years, and a concern over how this debt will be dealt with. Core is king--it is better to keep it simple. Minimizing risk is imperative; therefore, investments should focus on these core assets in large and liquid markets.

European cities with the strongest acquisition potential are Munich, Hamburg, Paris, and London, while Moscow, Madrid, Barcelona, and Dublin sit at the bottom. While the possibility for development generally remains off the table, cities with the strongest likelihood for development include Istanbul, Munich, Hamburg, and Warsaw.

For more coverage of MIPIM 2010, visit our partner CREOpoint.com.