After careful consideration, the 2023 Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition has been deferred. We remain committed to the competition, and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back in 2024.
Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition
The Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition, developed by Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, attracts a global array of students and tasks the teams with analyzing an actual commercial real estatetransaction, rendering a recommendation, and providing a presentation of their analysis and proposal. The competition itself is the culmination of an intensive five-day analysis preparation by the students and a full day of presentations. The teams are judged on their investment recommendations, approach to the problems, and presentation skills. Judges in the competition are real estate executives representing top companies in the industry.
Congratulations to the University of Southern California
…for taking first place at the 14th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition in New York City on November 11, 2022. Second place went to Georgetown University, third to the University of British Columbia – Sauder School of Business, and fourth place to Villanova University. Seventeen undergraduate teams competed for over $20,000 in prize money. The competition was held at Convene in the Financial District.
Cornell University was represented by: Benjamin Gelb ‘23, Alexander Izvolsky ‘23, Jonathan Le ‘23, Rachel Perry ‘24, Lauren Scheller ‘23, Rosemary Wei ‘23
The event, developed by Cornell Nolan School professor Daniel Quan, attracts a global array of students and tasks the teams with analyzing an actual commercial real estate transaction, rendering a recommendation, and providing a presentation of their analysis and proposal. The competition itself is the culmination of an intensive five-day analysis preparation by the students and a full day of presentations. The teams are judged on their investment recommendations, approach to the problems, and presentation skills. Judges in the competition are real estate executives representing top companies in the industry.
14th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition
Convene
1 Liberty Plaza
New York, New York
Center for Real Estate and Finance
Focusing on research and teaching in finance, asset management, and commercial real estate, including the hospitality industry, the center provides information relevant to the daily operation of the real estate industry, as well as experiential-learning opportunities for students, including direct access to industry leaders. For more information visit CREF.CORNELL.EDU
Friday, November 11, 2022
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast Welcome and Opening Remarks / North Gallery 2
1:00 – 1:15 p.m. Announcement of Finalists / North Gallery 2
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Final Presentations / The Forum
2:00, 2:30, 3:00, & 3:30
4:00 – 4:25 p.m. Judge’s Final Deliberation / The Forum
4:25 – 4:45 p.m. Case Presentation / The Forum
4:50 – 5:05 p.m. Presentation of Winners / The Forum
Daniel C. Quan, P ’06 & ’10 Robert C. Baker Professor in Real Estate and Arthur Adler ’78 and Karen Newman Adler ’78 Director of the Center for Real Estate and Finance School of Hotel Administration, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
I am honored to welcome you to the fourteenth annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition. It’s hard to believe that it’s been fourteen years since we started this competition. Thanks to the participation of you, the competitors, judges, and sponsors, this competition has become the world’s foremost event of its kind.
From the beginning, this event has had remarkable support from our student competitors, our expert judges, and our industry sponsors—all for the purpose of advancing the students’ real estate education.
This event aims to connect students with industry leaders by providing an authentic experience for the students. There is no substitute for the direct contribution this event has on building the students’ real estate knowledge—and their ability to apply the lessons of this competition throughout their careers. Good luck to all teams, you have already created a record of accomplishment.
I would like to thank our judges and sponsors for contributing their time and expertise to this competition. While the judges are tasked to select the winning team, their main purpose is to provide the students with the opportunity to learn from industry executives. I am extremely grateful to our judges who are so willing to share their knowledge and coach the students.
Congratulations and best wishes for success to all participating teams. Whether you have traveled from near or far, we are proud to be able to share this opportunity with you.
AMY APPLEBAUM ’86, Vice President, Deputy Team Lead – NY Real Estate Group, Bank of China
Amy S. Applebaum heads up the NY real estate lending team and spearheads CRA Real Estate Lending for Bank of China. Prior to joining BOC in 2019, she spent nearly 15 years with JPMorgan Chase in the commercial real estate group. Ms. Applebaum has over 30 years of experience in real estate banking, subscription lending and economic development. Ms. Applebaum provides a wide range of real estate financing products to real estate developers including construction and permanent loans, bond purchase agreements, tax credit transactions and letters of credit. Her past experience includes working at the New York City Economic Development Corporation selling and leasing city-owned land for economic development, where she focused on the redevelopment of Times Square. In addition to her work in real estate, Ms. Applebaum spends time mentoring and working with junior real estate professionals both through the WX Scholarship and mentoring groups. Ms. Applebaum served on the Board of Directors for WX as Treasurer and Secretary and is a past president of the Association of Real Estate Women (now CREWNY), and is on the board of Cents-Ability (a NFP that provides financial education to at-risk youth). She graduated from Cornell University and received an MBA in Finance from NYU Stern School of Management.
KENNY BLATT ’81, Principal and Managing Partner, CPG Real Estate
Kenneth M. Blatt, is currently a Principal and Managing Partner of Dorado Beach Resort and CPG Real Estate. CPG had been an active investor in the Caribbean and Central America and now, other than Dorado Beach, is focused more on unique hospitality GP and residential development opportunities in the US. Dorado Beach is an iconic 1900 integrated community in Puerto Rico where Mr. Blatt serves on its Board of Directors and oversees the executives that run all of Dorado Beach’s hotel, golf, membership and sales operations.
Kenny has over 30 years of experiences as an entrepreneur and angel investor in the US, Caribbean, Central America and Central and Eastern Europe. From 1992-2000, he lived in Romania and Bulgaria and created the leading service businesses in advertising and outdoor and print media. Mr. Blatt is also a founding partner in Gemini Homes, a Southeast US residential real estate developer and investor, an advisor and investor in ID Funds, an alternative investment platform for accredited investors and was co-founder and director of HeyHolidays, an alternative accommodation online marketplace based in Bangalore, India. He is an active investor in both the hospitality and digital asset space.
Mr. Blatt is a graduate of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Emory Law School and Owner-Director Certificate Program at INSEAD. He is an active Board member of Cornell’s PIHE and CREF, serves as a member of the Cornell University Council, former Chair of the Core Club House Committee in NYC and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Advancement Committee at Saint Andrews School in Boca Raton, Florida.
BRIAN COLLINS, Executive Vice President, Director of Development Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Brian Collins is Executive Vice President and Director of Development where he oversees the development projects across the firm’s portfolio.
Previously, Mr. Collins was the Head of Acquisitions and Development at Fisher Brothers. Most recently, he oversaw over $1.5 billion in development of residential properties in New York City and Washington, DC, including 111 Murray, 225 East 39th Street, 101 West 87th Street, 37 Warren Street and 701 2nd Street NE on Capitol Hill.
Prior to joining Fisher Brothers, Brian was President of Intrawest, one of the largest resort owner/operators and real estate development companies in North America. As President, Brian oversaw all real estate activities worldwide. Before Intrawest, Brian was the founder of Colgate Development, a development company which specialized in the development of luxury hotels and condominiums. Under Brian’s leadership, Colgate developed several hotels and residential properties including The Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, NC and the Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia.
Brian started his career in real estate development as a principal and COO of Millennium Partners. Overseeing the commercial components of Millennium’s projects, Brian was responsible for the development of The Ritz-Carlton hotels in New York, Boston and Washington and the Four Seasons hotels in San Francisco and Miami as well as five Sport Club/LA facilities, office space, movies theatres and parking garages. Brian is an active member of the Urban Land Institute where he serves as vice chairman for ULI New York. He is also active in numerous New York real estate groups and councils.
Mr. Collins holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Colgate University and a Masters in Accounting from NYU. He and his wife have two children and live in Fairfield CT.
ADRIANA DE ALCANTARA, Senior Managing Director, Fund Manage, Hines US Property Partners (HUSPP)
Adriana de Alcantara joined Hines in January 2020 as Senior Managing Director, Fund Manager for Hines US Property Partners (HUSPP), Hines’ Flagship Core Plus Open-End Fund. She Is responsible for developing and executing the investment strategy for HUSPP.
Adriana brings more than 20 years of global experience in the real estate industry across all asset classes including, office, multifamily, retail and industrial. Before joining the firm, she served as Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager at Nuveen Real Estate based in New York, where she was the lead Portfolio Manager for the TIAA-CREF Real Property Fund LP, a core open-end fund focusing on institutional CRE across the U.S. in diverse asset types and geographies. Prior to that since 2009, she served in a variety of lead roles at TIAA in both London and New York overseeing Asset Management and Separate Accounts. Her background also includes significant roles at Lehman Brothers Global Real Estate Group (Luxembourg and London), O’Connor Capital Partners (Luxembourg and London).
Adriana holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (in Barcelona) is a Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA) and a Certified Financial Planner professional (CFP®). She serves as Co-Chair of the DC Affinity Group at PREA (Pension Real Estate Association) and is an active member of the Programming Committee at WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate. She is also fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French.
PAUL FINE ’07, Managing Director, Real Estate, KKR
Paul Fine (New York) joined KKR in 2015 and is a Managing Director on the Real Estate team. He is responsible for sourcing and executing debt investments across KKR’s real estate credit strategies. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Fine was a Director at Cantor Fitzgerald where he helped to set up the real estate finance platform and was responsible for loan originations. He began his career at Credit Suisse in the real estate finance group. Mr. Fine graduated from Cornell University, magna cum laude, with a B.S. in Applied Economics and Management.
DANIEL GLIKSMAN, Senior Vice President, International Real Estate, Americas, QuadReal
Daniel Gliksman joined QuadReal in March 2018 and helped establish the company’s New York office, its first location in the US. He oversees investments for the Eastern US, focusing on real estate investments across asset classes, including residential, logistics, and office.
Daniel previously served as Vice President at AEW Capital Management, a Boston-based institutional real estate advisor, where he spent 13 years investing in office, industrial, multifamily and retail properties throughout the United States and Canada. He began his career at UBS in 2001 and subsequently worked in the US Equities Group at IG Investment Management.
Daniel holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from McGill University and a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University. He is a CFA charterholder.
ALAN KANDERS ’87, Principal, Three Wall Capital
At Three Wall Capital, Alan Kanders ‘87 successfully completed six hospitality equity and debt investments totaling over $200 million in invested capital, on behalf of institutional and individual investors. These transactions include the 30-room Five Diamond/Five Star Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, CT, which TWC operates, and the 200-room Buckingham Hotel redevelopment at 57th Street and 6th Avenue, NY, NY.
From 1997 to 2008, Kanders was managing director in the Global Real Estate Group at Lehman Brothers, where he originated approximately $8 billion of hospitality equity and debt transactions in a principal capacity on behalf of Lehman Brothers. He has worked with leading hospitality sponsors, operators, and franchisors including Marriott International, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Gencom Group, Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, and Highgate Holdings in various transaction types including acquisition, new construction, recapitalization, redevelopment, and brand development. In 2007, Kanders led the restructuring and sale of Le Méridien Hotels and Resorts, one of the largest-ever hotel restructurings to date.
Prior to joining Lehman Brothers in 1997, Kanders was vice president of development for Wingate Inns, a limited-service hotel chain, where he developed over 100 hotels. Before joining Wingate Inns in 1992, Kanders developed a gaming facility in Barbados and was a member of the team that sought to develop Hard Rock Cafes in the former Soviet Union. Prior to that, he was vice president of development for North America and the Caribbean for Rank Plc, a leading European gaming company.
Kanders graduated with a BS in hotel administration from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
BRUCE KIMMELMAN ’91, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets and Acquisitions, Macklowe Properties
Bruce Kimmelman is Macklowe’s executive vice president of capital markets and acquisitions. His responsibilities include sourcing and closing debt facilities plus negotiating joint venture capital raises with Macklowe’s partners. In addition, Mr. Kimmelman is responsible for identifying, negotiating, and closing acquisition opportunities for Macklowe.
Throughout his career, Mr. Kimmelman has been involved in approximately $10 billion worth of transactions as both a principal and lender. Before joining Macklowe, he was involved in merchant banking activities with a major Wall Street investment bank. Previously, Mr. Kimmelman was a senior originator with an international real estate banking organization, responsible for closing over $6 billion of originations. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kimmelman spent five years with Macklowe as the company’s vice president of finance and acquisitions.
Mr. Kimmelman earned an executive MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.
FABIANA LOTITO, Program Director, National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF)
Fabiana Lotito is Program Director for the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF). Her primary responsibilities are managing and executing content for NCREIF conferences and educational programs. Additionally, she oversees industry initiatives taking place within the NCREIF standing and technical committees and task forces.
Fabiana has been in the institutional real estate industry for twenty-five years, and previously was a Senior Director on TIAA’s Global Real Estate portfolio team, working on the TIAA Real Estate Account. Her primary responsibilities were to oversee activity for the account’s investments in the Northeast and Midwest. She developed performance metrics, managed portfolio diversification efforts, and handled cash management for the Account.
Previously, Ms. Lotito was part of the organization’s Strategy & Research group. In that capacity, her focus was managing strategic real estate portfolio research where she participated in both top-down and bottom-up research, specializing in portfolio analytics and strategic asset allocation modeling. She was involved in the publication of several research white papers. Ms. Lotito was part of TIAA’s corporate data governance initiative, and a member of its technology and middle office operating committees.
Ms. Lotito holds a B.S. in finance and statistics from New York University. She is a designated Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). Prior to being on the NCREIF staff, Ms. Lotito served multiple terms as chairperson of NCREIF’s Research Committee followed by serving as a Director on the NCREIF Board.
MICHAEL NASH, Co-Founder and Chairman, Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies
Michael Nash is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Mr. Nash is a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee for both Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, and he is also Executive Chairman of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, a NYSE listed REIT. Additionally, in 2021, Mr. Nash became Chairman of Blackstone’s GP Stakes business, focusing on the acquisition of minority ownership interests in private equity and other private-market alternative asset management firms.
Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Nash was with Merrill Lynch from 1997 to 2007 where he led the firm’s Real Estate Principal Investment Group – Americas. Prior to 1997, Mr. Nash held various positions with Barclays Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and Deloitte Haskins & Sells.
Mr. Nash received a B.S. in Accounting from State University of New York at Albany, as well as an M.B.A. in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
FRANCISCO RAMIREZ, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, Tishman Realty
Francisco (Paco) Ramirez is the Chief Operating Officer and an Executive Vice President for Tishman Realty. Prior to joining Tishman in 2007, he was a partner at McConnell Valdes LLC, one of the largest Hispanic owned law firms in Latin America, and has over 20 years’ experience in all aspects of real estate development and finance. Mr. Ramirez is a member of the New York State and Puerto Rico Bar Associations. He holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, and a JD from Columbia Law School, where he was recognized as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
BRADLEY WALKER ‘10, Managing Director, Mavik Capital
Brad Walker is a Managing Director on the Investments Team at Mavik Capital Management, a manager of US real estate special situations investments. Prior to Mavik, Brad was a Vice President at Mount Kellett Capital Management, a special situations investment firm with $8 billion in peak AUM, and an Analyst at Brookfield Asset Management. Brad currently serves as a Member of the Advisory Board for the Cornell University Center for Real Estate Finance and a Board Member for the New York Private Equity Network for Real Estate, the largest private equity real estate networking group in the US. Brad has co-authored more than 15 case studies for intercollegiate real estate finance case competitions. Brad received his BS degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Participating universities
Baruch College – City University of NY
Cornell University
Georgetown University
Indiana University
KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm
Penn State
Rutgers University
Southern Methodist University
Toronto Metropolitan University formerly Ryerson University
University of Auckland
University of British Columbia – Sauder
University of Connecticut
University of Georgia
University of Southern California
University of Texas at Austin
University of Wisconsin at Madison
Villanova University
List of industry judges
Amy Applebaum ’86, Vice President, Deputy Team Lead – NY Real Estate Group, Bank of China
Kenny Blatt ’81, Principal, CPG Real Estate
Brian Collins, Executive Vice President, Director of Development, Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Adriana de Alcantara, Senior Managing Director, Fund Manager, HInes US Property Partners (HUSPP)
Paul Fine ’07, Managing Director, Real Estate, KKR
Alan Kanders ’87, principal, Three Wall Capital
Bruce Kimmelman ’91, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets and Acquisitions, Macklowe Properties
Fabiana Lotito, Program Director, NCREIF
Michael Nash, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone
Bradley Walker ’10, Managing Director, Mavik Capital
Sponsors and Participants
For information about the competition and sponsorship opportunities, contact cref@cornell.edu.
The competition is funded in part by the Marjorie Boas Levins and Jack Levins/F.H.T. Rhodes Real Estate Case Competition Fund.
Past CIRECC Competitions
13th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition
The 13th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition was held virtually on Friday, November 12, 2021. Thirteen teams from around the world competed for a total of $10,000 in prize money.
Blue Water Advisors representing Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC) took first place. Second place went to KS Capital representing the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and third place to Sonic the Hedgefund of Cornell University. The competition was held online and the finals were Livestreamed with the help of eCornell.
Andrew Gindy ’11, Senior Principal, Walton Street Capital, LLC
Jakub Hejl, President & Founder, Westside Capital Group
Alan Kanders ’87, Managing Member & Founder, Three Wall Capital
Jason Kaufman ’87 (A&S), Managing Director of Fund Management, Silverstein Properties
Bruce Kimmelman ’91, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets & Acquisitions, Macklowe Properties
David Martin, Chief Executive Officer, Terra
Frank Patafio, Senior Executive Vice President, Portfolio Manager & Head of Investment Management Group , RXR Realty
Matthew Shore ’00, Chief Investment Officer, DRA Advisors
For information about the competition and sponsorship opportunities, contact cref@cornell.edu.
The competition is funded in part by the Marjorie Boas Levins and Jack Levins/F.H.T. Rhodes Real Estate Case Competition Fund.
12th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition
Cornell University was represented by: Timothy Bergen ’21, Sharon Chen ’22, William McGrath ’21, Jai Patel ’22, Carol Wang ’21.
The WEBS Group, representing Cornell University, took first place at the 12th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition on November 6, 2020. Second place went to Summit Capital, representing the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, and third place to Perpetuum Partners, representing Indiana University. The competition was held online and the finals were Livestreamed with the help of eCornell.
Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at North Carolina
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Sauder School of Business, UBC
Southern Methodist University
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
The University of Texas at Austin
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Villanova University
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
Industry judges include:
Jackie Soffer P ’20, Chairman and CEO, Turnberry Associaates
Jay Mantz P ’21, President, Rialto Capital
John Ryan, CEO, Metro Development
Fabiana Lotito, Personal Sponsor
Adam Falk, Managing Director, Criterion Real Estate Capital
Saul Goldstein ’92, CEO and CIO, ActivumSG Capital Management
Bonnie Ko, Director, ActivumSG Capital Management
Mathew Shore ’00, CIO, DRA Advisors
A special thank you to our sponsors:
The 11th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition was not held in 2019. The event was put on hiatus for one year and resumed in 2020
10th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition
November 12-13, 2018
Convene, 32 Old Slip, New York City
Congratulations to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
…for taking first place at the 10th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition in New York City on November 13, 2018. Second place went to University of Michigan, third to Villanova University, fourth and fifth place to Indiana University and University of Connecticut, respectively. Closing out the top 6 teams was Georgetown University. Twenty-seven undergraduate teams competed for over $20,000 in prize money. The competition was held at Convene in the Financial District.
Cornell University was represented by: Max Feng ’19, Linda Cao ’19, Amanda Cheng ’19, Karen Ding ’20, Mark Rittiboon ’19 and Becca Wang ’20.
The event, developed by Cornell School of Hotel Administration professor Daniel Quan, attracts a global array of students and tasks the teams with analyzing an actual commercial real estate transaction, rendering a recommendation, and providing a presentation of their analysis and proposal. The competition itself is the culmination of an intensive five-day analysis preparation by the students and a full day of presentations. The teams are judged on their investment recommendations, approach to the problems, and presentation skills. Judges in the competition are real estate executives representing top companies in the industry.
November 13-14, 2017
Convene – Financial District, 32 Old Slip, New York City, New York
Congratulations to the Wharton School
…for taking first place in the 9th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition! The University of Guelph took second place, Cornell University came in
third, the University of Wisconsin at Madison came in fourth, and the University of British Columbia and the University of Colorado came in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Thank you to all teams for their hard work and dedication to this event. The time and effort that all students put into preparing for this competition was very apparent in the thoroughness of their analyses and the impressive presentations. Many thanks also to our industry judges for allowing us to provide this opportunity to so many students across the globe!
Participating universities include:
Brandeis University
Brown University
Cornell University
Georgetown University
Indiana University
Konkuk University
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
New York University
Northwestern University
Pennsylvania State University
Renmin University of China
Stanford University
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
University of Auckland
University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business
University of Cambridge
University of Colorado
University of Connecticut
University of Guelph
University of Michigan
University of New South Wales
University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton School
University of Reading
University of Sydney
University of Texas at Austin
University of Wisconsin at Madison
Villanova University
Industry judges include:
Saul Goldstein ’92 (A&S), Founder and Owner, ActivumSG Capital Management
Frank Patafio, Senior Executive Vice President, Portfolio Manager, and Head of Investments, RXR Realty
Adam Burinescu ’03 (CALS), Managing Director, Centerbridge Partners
Jamie Covello, Executive Director, Avison Young
Timothy Groves, MBA ’13, Director, Citigroup Global Markets
Jeff Horwitz, Partner, Head of Lodging and Gaming Group and Private Equity Real Estate, Proskauer
Alan Kanders ’87 (Hotel), Principal, Three Wall Capital
Jay Mantz, P ’21, President, Rialto Capital
Allyson Martin, Strategic Real Estate Advisor, HUB International Northeast Limited
Shary Moalemzadeh, Managing Director and Co-Head of Carlyle Strategic Partners, The Carlyle Group
Ray Potter ’87 (A&S), MBA ’92, Managing Partner, R3 Funding
Chuck Rosenzweig ’85 (ILR), JD ’88, Managing Partner, Criterion Real Estate Capital
Wendy Rowden, President, 42nd Street Development Corporation
Marty Burger, P ’17 and ’20, Chief Executive Officer, Silverstein Properties
Karen Horstmann, Head of US Real Estate Asset Strategies and a Portfolio Manager, Norges Bank Investment Management
Fabiana Lotito, Senior Director, Global Real Assets, Portfolio Management, TIAA
Mike Nash, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone
Ralph Rose, MBA ’84, Managing Director, Global Chief Operating Officer of Real Estate, Citigroup Global Markets
John Swagerty, Senior Vice President for Development, Acadia Realty
For information on the competition, including sponsorship opportunities, contact Cristina Carter. The competition is funded in part by the Marjorie Boas Levins and Jack Levins/F.H.T. Rhodes Real Estate Case Competition Fund.
Watch the video to learn more about the case competition
The 8th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition took place in New York City on Tuesday, November 15.
With 20 teams competing this year, the stakes were high.
Congratulations to the Chinese University of Hong Kong for taking home first place in the competition.
We are proud of all of the competing teams for their hard work and dedication, including the Cornell team of Grant Behnke ’17, Giovanna Cavagnaro ’17, Teddy DeVico ’17, DJ Fan ’17, Jack Henry Kapp ’17, and Jessica Zhang ’17. The time and effort that all students put into preparing for this competition was very apparent in the thoroughness of their analysis and the impressive presentations.
The University of Wisconsin at Madison and the University of Sydney tied for second place, the University of Queensland took fourth place, and Brandeis University, fifth place.
The Cornell team took first place this year at the seventh annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition.
The six-member winning team representing Cornell was Yiwei Chen ’16, Jackson Foo ’16, Ryan Helkowski ’16, Jack Henry Kapp ’17, Sarah Murdoch ’16, and Tia Wei ’16. Nineteen teams of undergraduate students from the top real estate programs in the world competed for a share of $21,500 in prize money. As first place winners, the Cornell team walked away with a purse of $10,000. The other finalists of the competition were University of Sydney in second place, Indiana University in third, and University of Wisconsin at Madison and New York University in fourth and fifth place.
Organized by the Center for Real Estate and Finance at the School of Hotel Administration (SHA), the competition has been drawing an ever-increasing number of universities since its inaugural year. This year’s competition garnered 19 teams from seven countries with more than 150 student participants. Daniel Quan, SHA professor and creator of the competition commented, “This is probably one of the largest such international competitions in the world. We had teams representing the United States, Canada, South Korea, China, Japan, United Kingdom, and Australia.” The buzz around the event this year was that the judges and observers were duly impressed with the professional quality of the student presentations.
The competition tasks student teams to prepare an analysis of an actual commercial real estate transaction. The winning team’s case was provided by Fortress Investment Group and written by Bradley Walker and Darren Wang. The Cornell team was asked to play the role of an international real estate private equity fund and had to evaluate the merits of each of three major assets held by a company that was being considered in a large scale acquisition.
This year’s participating universities were: Brown University, Cornell University, Indiana University, Konkuk University, McGill University, New York University, Pennsylvania State University, Renmin University of China, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Aberdeen, University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business, University of Cambridge, University of Connecticut, University of Guelph, University of Michigan, University of Sydney, University of Texas at Austin, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Villanova University, and Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
Sam Flood, Head of Northeast Acquisitions, TIAA-CREF
Merrie Frankel, Moody’s Investors Services
Kevin Hackett, Proskauer
Ellen Kendall, Prudential Real Estate Investors
Agha Khan ’00, Access Point Financial, Inc., Stone Point Capital
Bruce Kimmelman ’91, Macklowe Properties
Michael Lehrman, Cantor Commercial Real Estate
Peter Peterson ’93, Related Urban
Jonathan Pollack, Blackstone
Daniel Quan, School of Hotel Administration
Hilary Spann, JP Morgan
Vik Uppal, Fortress Investment Group
The team from the University of British Columbia was named the winner in the sixth annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition.
The Center for Real Estate and Finance at Cornell University hosted the competition November 4th in New York City and it was sponsored by an all-star lineup of corporate sponsors, led by Title Sponsor TIAA-CREF. The top undergraduate academic real estate programs in the world enter teams of six real estate students to compete in this exciting and enriching academic event. Each team has five days to prepare their analysis and make a recommendation on the case, which is based on an actual commercial real estate transaction. Teams present their analysis to a panel of judges, who determine a winner based on the best overall analysis and presentation. The teams are judged not only on their investment recommendations, their approach to the problem, and their presentation skills, but also on their ability to answer and respond to direct and probing questions posed by the judges.
In addition to the winning team, this year’s competing teams were Brown University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Cornell University, Indiana University, McGill University, New York University, Renmin University, University of Aberdeen, University of Cambridge, University of Connecticut, University of Guelph, University of Michigan, University of Sydney, University of Texas, University of Wisconsin, and Villanova University.
FIRST PLACE: University of British Columbia Water Street Advisors
SECOND PLACE: University of Wisconsin Green Coast Capital Partners
THIRD PLACE: University of Connecticut Ted’s LLC
FOURTH PLACE: University of Aberdeen Maitland Group
FIFTH PLACE: University of Guelph Borealis Capital Advisors
Other sponsors include:
Ackman-Ziff, Cantor Commercial Real Estate, The Carlyle Group, Clarion Partners, Criterion Real Estate Capital, Grove International Partners, Macklowe Properties, Moody’s Investors Service, National Realty & Development Corp., Paramount Lodging Advisors, Prudential, Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC, Silverstein Properties, Tishman, Westbrook Partners, WX New York Women Executives In Real Estate and hotel sponsor Yotel. The competition is also funded in part by the Marjorie Boas Levins and Jack Levins/F.H.T. Rhodes Real Estate Case Competition Fund.
2014 Judges
Marty Burger, Silverstein Properties, Inc.
Gerald Cohen, Ackman-Ziff
Jason Glasgow, Westbrook Partners
Veronica Hackett, WX, The Clarett Group
Bruce Kimmelman, Macklowe Properties
Daisuke Kitta, Blackstone Group Japan
Michael Lehrman, Cantor Commercial Real Estate
Fabiana Lotito, TIAA CREF
Sanjeev Misra, Paramount Lodging Advisors
John Orrico, National Realty & Development Corp.
Thad Paul, The Carlyle Group
Tad Philipp, Moody’s Investors Service
Michael Profenius, Grove International Partners
Sara Queen, WX, Brookfield Properties
Chuck Rosenzweig, Criterion Real Estate Capital
Paula Schaefer, Clarion Partners
Kevin Smith, Prudential Real Estate Investors
The team from Villanova University was named the winner in the fifth annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition.
Developed by the Cornell Center for Real Estate and Finance and sponsored by an all-star lineup of corporate sponsors, led by Title Sponsor TIAA-CREF. For its effort, the Villanova team wins the first prize award of $10,000. The team from the University of Wisconsin took second place and a prize of $6,000, and Cornell University’s team placed third, winning $3,000. The event, held November 14, 2013, brought fourteen international collegiate teams to Convene Downtown @ 32 Old Slip, in New York City.
“This was an exciting competition,” said Tom Garbutt, head of global real estate for TIAA-CREF Asset Management. “All the teams provided incisive analysis of their respective transactions, and the team from Villanova is to be congratulated for their excellent presentation.”
In addition to the winning teams, this year’s competing teams were Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Indiana University, New York University, Penn State University, Renmin University, University of Connecticut, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas, University of Aberdeen, and the University of British Columbia.
Other sponsors include: Annaly, BlackRock, C-III Capital Partners, Clarion Partners, Claros Fund Management LLC, Goldman Sachs, GTIS Partners, National Realty & Development Corp., WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate, Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC, Tishman, Westbrook Partners and hotel sponsor Yotel. The competition is also funded in part by the Marjorie Boas Levins and Jack Levins/F.H.T. Rhodes Real Estate Case Competition Fund.
Organized by Professor Daniel Quan, academic director of the Center for Real Estate and Finance, the competition required the teams to examine and present their analysis of an actual real estate transaction. A high-level panel of industry practitioners were judges for the presentations.
2013 Judges
John Beaman, AREA Partners
Gerald Cohen, Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group LLC.
Peggy DaSilva, CBRE Global Investors
Paul Diamond, Tishman Hotel Realty
Jeffrey Fine, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Sally Gordon, BlackRock
Phil Greenberg, CIII Capital Partners
Patrick Kwok, Henderson Land Development
Jin Lee, Royalton Capital
Michael Lehrman, Cantor Fitzgerald
Adam Popper, Westbrook Partners
Kevin Riordan, Annaly Commercial Real Estate Group
Robert Vahradian, GTIS Partners
James Walker, Prudential Real Estate Investors
Shannon Wright, TIAA CREF
The student team from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) has won the fourth annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition.
Hosted by the Cornell Center for Real Estate and Finance and held November 15 at the TIAA-CREF headquarters in New York City. Members of the winning team are Christian Hung, Jason Morgan, Matthew Sherman, Sharon Wang, Eric Wright, and Jay Yang. Runners-up were University of Connecticut and Indiana University. Fifteen Universities were represented, making the Cornell event the largest of its kind in the world. Spirits for the event were high, in spite of an atmosphere dampened by the effects of the recent Hurricane Sandy. Cornell is represented by Amy Yao ’13, Shirley Ye Gu ’13, Colby Heiman ’13, Nazario Paragano ’13, Richard Levins ’13, and Kai Tan ’13, with alternates Tejvir Basra, David Martin, Cicily Zhou, Jeremy Wai, and Jay Edwards. Visiting Senior Lecturer Daniel Lebret coached the team and Professor Daniel Quan organized the competition with the assistance of event planners Melissa Carlisle and Erica Heim. In addition to Cornell, teams from the following schools were given the assignment of analyzing an actual real estate deal: Chinese University of Hong Kong, Indiana University, Maastricht University, New York University, Pennsylvania State University, Renmin University of China, University of Cambridge, University of Connecticut, University of Guelph, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Villanova University. The competition is made possible by the following sponsors: Archon Hospitality / Goldman Sachs, AREA Property Partners, BlackRock, Clarion Partners, CreXus Investment Corporation, GTIS , National Realty & Development Corporation, New York Women Executives in Real Estate, Prudential Real Estate Investors, Sawyer Realty Holdings, TIAA-CREF, Tishman, and Westbrook Partners. Thanks to the sponsors’ generosity, the prize money now totals $16,000.
The team consisted of:
Christian Hung
Jason Morgan
Matthew Sherman
Sharon Wang
Eric Wright
Jay Yang
Runners up were University of Connecticut and the University of Indiana.
Judges
John Beaman, AREA Partners
Greg Fay, Archon
Sally Gordon, BlackRock
Obaid Khan, Tishman Realty Corporation
Joanna Mulford, Prudential Real Estate Investors
John Orrico, NRDC
Thad Paul, Carlyle Group
Michael Profenius, Grove International Partners
Kevin Riordan, CreXus Investment Corp
Paula Schaefer, New York Women Executives in Real Estate
Sush Torgalkar, Westbrook Partners
Robert Vahradian, GTIS
Tim Wang, Clarion Partners
Shannon Wright, TIAA-CREF
Participating Universities
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
Center for Hospitality and Real Estate Research
School of Hotel and Tourism Management
Cornell University
Center for Real Estate and Finance
School of Hotel Administration
Indiana University
Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies
Kelley School of Business
Maastricht University
European Property Research Institute
School of Business and Economics
New York University
Leonard N. Stern
School of Business
Pennsylvania State University
Smeal College of Business
Renmin University of China
University of Cambridge
Department of Land Economy
University of Connecticut
Center for Real Estate
School of Business
University of Guelph
College of Management & Economics
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina
Kenan-Flager Business School
University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School
University of Wisconsin at Madison
James A. Graaskamp
Center for Real Estate
School of Business
Villanova University
Daniel M. DiLella
Center for Real Estate
School of Business
Sponsors
Cornell Team Wins Real Estate Case Competition
A team of six undergraduates and three alternatives won the 3rd annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition, held in New York City on November 10, 2011. The team competed against 10 other schools, including entries from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and Renmin University in China.
This year’s case, “Chelsea Plaza” involves a historic 15-story 2.9 million square foot building that occupies a city block in Manhattan. The partnership can harvest significant appreciation if the building is sold, but holding and redeveloping the building is a reasonable alternative. The Cornell team was commended for their analysis of the financial and market data but also for understanding the dynamics within the equity partnership. Judge Frank Sullivan of Clarion Partners said “…the Cornell team understood that the partners had differing motivations; the institutional partners were motivated to continue to harvest annual cash flow after debt service while the general partners were motivated to harvest the appreciated value of the building, a meaningful part of their personal wealth!”
Video of 2011 Competition
The team consisted of:
Omer Ben-Zur, Hotel ’12
Christine Boyd, Hum Ec ’12
Siheng Han, Hotel ’12
Andrew Quinn, Hotel ’12
Steven Rowe, Hotel ’12
Darren Wang, Hotel ’12
Alternates:
Collin Hoo, Hotel ’12
Ye (Shirley) Gu, Hotel ’13
Amy Yao, Hotel ’13
The Cornell Team was ably prepared by Professors Daniel Quan, Judi Brownell and Wally Boudry. Preparations included weekly case preparation, presentation and critique of students’ technical analysis and presentation skills.
2nd Place
University of Wisconsin – Madison
3rd Place
Pennsylvania State University
Judges
Peter Baccile, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.
John E. Beaman, AREA Property Partners
Geoff Bedrosian, Deutsche Bank Securities
Russel Bernard, Westport Capital Partners LLC
Sally Gordon, BlackRock
Alan M. Krause, Mid-America Management Corporation
Trevor Michael, TIAA-CREF
Joanna Mulford, Prudential Real Estate Investors
John G. Orrico, National Realty and Development Corp.
Michael Profenius, Private Real Estate Investor
Kevin Riordan, CreXus Investment Corp.
Frank Sullivan, Clarion Partners
Robert Vahradian, GTIS
Participating Universities
Cornell University
Center for Real Estate and Finance
School of Hotel Administration
Indiana University
Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies
Kelley School of Business
Maastricht University
European Property Research Institute
School of Business and Economics
New York University
Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Pennsylvania State University
Smeal College of Business
Renmin University of China
School of Finance
University of Connecticut
Center for Real Estate
School of Business
University of Guelph
College of Management & Economics
University of Michigan
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
University of Wisconsin at Madison
James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate
School of Business
Villanova University
Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate
School of Business
Sponsors
The Center for Real Estate and Finance hosted the 2nd Annual Cornell Real Estate Case Competition, Wednesday, November 10 – Thursday, November 11, 2010 in New York City. TIAA-CREF generously offered to hold this event at their corporate headquarters – 730 3rd Avenue.
Seven of the top undergraduate academic real estate programs in the country and in Canada have entered teams of six real estate students to compete in this exciting and enriching academic event. Each team has four days to prepare their analysis and make investment recommendations on a real estate case study, which is based on an actual commercial real estate transaction.
They will present their analysis to a panel of judges, comprised of distinguished senior real estate professionals, who will determine which team has the best overall analysis and presentation. The teams will be judged not only on their investment recommendations, their approach to the problem, and their presentation skills, but also on their ability to answer and response to direct and probing questions posed by the judges.
Prize Money
The winning team will receive $6,000 and the runner‐up will receive $3,000.
Judges
Geoff Bedrosian, Deutsche Bank Securities
John E. Beaman, AREA Property Partners
Todd Giannoble, Archon Hospitality
Bruce Habig, Barclays Capital
Martin Kandrac, The Blackstone Group
Fabiana Lotito, TIAA-CREF
David Lynn, ING Clarion Partners
John G. Orrico, National Realty and Development Corp.
Kevin A. Scherer, BlackRock
Steve Vittorio, Prudential Real Estate Investors
Steven Wolf, AREA Property Partners
Participating Universities
Cornell University
Center for Real Estate and Finance
School of Hotel Administration
Guelph University
College of Management & Economics
Indiana University
Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies
Kelley School of Business
New York University
Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Pennsylvania State University
Smeal College of Business
University of Connecticut
Center for Real Estate
School of Business
University of Texas at Austin
The Real Estate Finance and Investment Center
McCombs School of Business
Sponsors
Cornell Team Wins Real Estate Case Competition
From Left: Amy Shyr, Taylor Quan, Andrew Gindy, Li Zhang, Zied Sanhaji, Christopher Marshall, Josh Barvin.
Ithaca, NY, November 23, 2009
Six undergraduate students from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration took first place in the inaugural Cornell Real Estate Case Competition on Nov. 12 at the TIAA-CREF headquarters in New York City. They narrowly beat out New York University in group judging and bested Indiana University in the final round to take home the $4000 prize. Other teams competing in the event were American University, Penn State, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Josh Barvin ’10, Andrew Gindy ’11, Taylor Quan ’10, Zied Sanhaji ’10, Amy Shyr ’10, and Li Zhang ’10 competed for Cornell, with Christopher Marshall ’11 as alternate. All are students in Cornell’s new minor in real estate. The team was coached by Judi Brownell, professor of organizational communication, and Dan Quan, Cornell’s Singapore Tourism Board Professor of Real Estate Finance in the School of Hotel Administration. Daniel Lebret, visiting assistant professor of real estate finance, and Crocker Liu, the Robert A. Beck Professor of Hospitality Financial Management, also advised the team.
Judi Brownell, Cornell UniversityDan Quan, Cornell UniversityDean Michael Johnson & Josh Barvin, Cornell University
Each team had four days to analyze a case developed by Peng-Wei Tan, a private equity analyst for AREA Property Partners. The assignment was to present a strategy to salvage a cash-strapped portfolio of debt-ridden investments. The 20-minute presentations were followed by 20 minutes of sometimes withering questioning from the judges, all seasoned performers with prominent commercial real estate firms. The teams competed as fictional advisory firms in order to keep the judging blind.
“I think that this competition is great,” said Gindy while awaiting the judges’ decision between rounds, “because it utilizes all of the skills that we’ve learned in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Finance, accounting, real estate, managerial communication, marketing—it encompasses everything. But the biggest thing is teamwork.”
Judges for the competition were: Todd Giannoble ’95, president, Archon Hospitality; Sally Gordon, managing director, BlackRock; Jeffrey Hertz, director, the Praedium Group; David Lynn, MRP ’88, managing director, ING Clarion Partners; Catherine Marcus, managing director, Prudential Real Estate Investors; Martha Peyton, managing director, TIAA-CREF; Francis Tansey, co-founder and president, DRA Advisors; Steve Vittorio, managing director, Prudential Real Estate Investors; Steven Wolf, associate and head of U.S. portfolio management, AREA Property Partners; and Martin Kandrac, managing director, The Blackstone Group.
This first annual competition was organized by the Center for Real Estate Finance at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. David and Jill Korr, parents of Jonathan Korr ’09, were principal sponsors of the event. Other sponsors were Archon/Goldman Sachs, AREA Property Partners, BlackRock, ING Clarion, National Realty & Development Corp., Prudential, and TIAA-CREF.
Prize Money
The winning team will receive $4000 and the runner‐up will receive $2000.
Judges
Todd Giannoble, Archon Hospitality
Sally Gordon, BlackRock
Jeffrey Hertz, The Praedium Group
Martin Kandrac, Real Estate Group, The Blackstone Group
David Lynn, ING Clarion Partners
Martha S. Peyton, TIAA-CREF
Francis X. Tansey, DRA Advisors LLC.
Steve Vittorio, Prudential Real Estate Investors
Steven Wolf, AREA Property Partners
David Lynn, ING Clarion PartnersSteven Wolf, AREA Property PartnersMartin Kandric, The Blackstone GroupFrancis X. Tansey, DRA Advisors LLC
Participating Universities
American University
Finance and Real Estate Department Kogod School of Business
Participants
Daniel Bakst, Alexander Luik, Dung Nguyen, Alexej Wesnofske, Ian Wittkoff, Lauren Keating
Faculty
Peter Chinloy and Priscilla Rawlins
Cornell University
Center for Real Estate Finance School of Hotel Administration
Participants
Amy Shyr, Taylor Quan, Andrew Gindy, Li Zhang, Zied Sanhaji, Christopher Marshall, Josh Barvin
Faculty
Judi Brownell, Daniel Lebret, and Daniel Quan
Indiana University
Benecki Center for Real Estate Studies Kelley School of Business
Participants
Stephen Schnelker, Akshay Mehrotra, James Crowder, Radly Alcantara, Matthew Gorman, Adam Steuerwald
Faculty
Doug McCoy
New York University
Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Participants
Ardon Wiener, Bretton Taylor, Daniel Pessar, Diana Berger, Jameel Merali, Jeremy Salzberg
Faculty
Walter Boudry
University of Connecticut
Center for Real Estate School of Business
Participants
John DesRochers, James Ierro, Benjamin Hochran, Jessica Pollack
Faculty
John Clapp and Caleb Manchester
University of Texas at Austin
The Real Estate Finance and Investment Center McCombs School of Business
Participants
Aneal Tenjarla, Farah Ahmed, Yafen Liu, Scott Parks
Pennsylvania State University
Smeal College of Business
Participants
Courtney Bedrin, Shawna English, Daniel Ruppert, Jason Kleinwaks, Steven Iwanczuk
Congratulations to the University of Southern California
Congratulations to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
Real Estate Case Competition.
John Beaman, AREA Partners
Peter Baccile, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.
Geoff Bedrosian, Deutsche Bank Securities
Todd Giannoble, Archon Hospitality
