Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition

The Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition will be held on November 10th, 2023 and hosted by the Nolan Hotel School. Please reach out to Daniel Quan dq22@cornell.edu for further information.


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.

Web Accessible Program

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
  • Francisco Ramirez, Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President, Tishman Realty Corporation
  • 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