Retail Real Estate Case Competition

We are pleased to announce that Cornell University took first place in the 6th Annual ICSC & Cornell International Retail Real Estate Case Competition, hosted jointly by the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Center for Real Estate and Finance at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Congratulations goes out to the Cornell team consisting of Angad Jaspal ‘21, Angela Lu ‘22, Jai Patel ’22, and Carol Wang ‘21, who will receive the $5,000 first place prize. Second place went to KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Indiana University came in third place, collecting $3,000 and $2,000 in prize money respectively.

The Retail Real Estate Case Competition is held annually and was be a virtual event this year. This invitation-only competition welcomed undergraduate teams comprised of four students each from the top university real estate programs.

Based on an actual business transaction, each of the teams was presented with a real estate case study. Teams had five days for case analysis and preparation prior to a presentation period where teams showcased their final recommendations to a select panel of real estate industry judges.

This intense competition provided an opportunity for students to practice the skills they have learned in the classroom and showcase their talents to the leaders of the industry.

Stream the finals on-demand

FINAL RESULTS:

1st Place: Cornell University

2nd Place: KTH Royal Institute of Technology

3rd Place: Indiana University

COMPETING TEAMS:

Cornell University
Indiana University
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Marquette University
Southern Methodist University
The University of Texas at Austin
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Michigan
Villanova University

PARTICIPATING JUDGES:

Brian Betel, senior expert – Iberia Region, Activum SG
Joe Brady III, chief executive officer – Americas, real estate, The Instant Group
Sara Gougarty, retail business development and strategy lead, Americas, Cushman Wakefield
Jocelyn Gubler, senior vice president – commercial land agreements, URW
Nick Hodge, vice president, corporate real estate, The Kroger Co.
Liz Holland, chief executive officer, Abbell
Parham Javaheri, executive vice president – real estate and development, Life Time – Healthy Way of Life
Kenneth Lamy, founder and chief executive officer, The Lamy Group and EXETER™ Retail DataHub
Bryan Ley, managing director, capital markets, JLL
Jimmy Maurin, founder and past chairman, Stirling Properties
Beverly Ricks CLS, CRX, CSM, principal, Retail Property Solutions, LLC
Nina Rogers, vice president of leasing – specialty centers, ShopCore Properties

Past Retail Real Estate Case Competitions

Fourth Annual ICSC & Cornell International Retail Real Estate Case Competition

May 19-20, 2019
Las Vegas, NV

We are pleased to announce that Cornell University took first place in the 4th Annual ICSC & Cornell International Retail Real Estate Case Competition, hosted jointly by the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Center for Real Estate and Finance at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Congratulations goes out to the Cornell team consisting of Harrison Bernstein ’20, Aaron Friedman ’19, Teresa Liang ’20, and Uma Patel ’20, who will receive the $10,000 first place prize. Second place went to University of Queensland and University of Guelph came in third place, both universities collecting $5,000 in prize money.

This case competition, held annually, took place during RECon, the world’s largest retail real estate convention. The invitation-only competition welcomed undergraduate teams of four students from top university real estate programs. The teams presented their analysis of a real estate case study based on an actual transaction to a panel of industry executive judges. This intense competition provides an opportunity for students to practice the skills they have learned in the classroom and showcase their talents to the leaders of the industry.

2019 competition Photo album

2019 Competition Program

COMPETITION PRESENTATION VIDEOS – FINAL ROUND

COMPETING TEAMS

Cornell University
Florida State University
Indiana University
New York University
Ohio State University
University of Colorado
University of Connecticut
University of Guelph
University of Pennsylvania
University of Queensland
University of Texas at Austin
University of Wisconsin, Madison

PARTICIPATING JUDGES

Andrew Brien: Executive Director & CEO, Suria KLCC SDN BHD
John Crossman: CEO, Crossman & Company
Peter Eisenberg: Principal, Clark Street Real Estate
Marc Falcone ’95: MF Ventures, Founder
Carl Goertemoeller: Chief Business Development Officer, Viking Partners
James Goldsmith ’82 (A&S): President & CEO, Gator Investments
Skip Greeby: President, The Greeby Companies, Inc.
Amy Hall: Chief Operating Officer, Caton Commercial Real Estate Group
David Henry: Co-Founder, Peaceable Street Capital
Liz Holland: Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel, Abbell Associates
Rick Kuhle: Founder, Chairman & CEO, Vestar
Ken Lamy: Founder, President & CEO, The Lamy Group & DataPoint International
Stephen Lebovitz: Chief Executive Officer, CBL Properties
Jimmy Maurin: Founder, Stirling Properties
Marty Mayer: President & CEO, Stirling Properties
Robin McBride Zeigler: Executive Vice President & COO, Cedar Realty Trust
John Morrison: Lead Trustee, Automotive Properties REIT
Kristin Mueller: Chief Operating Officer, Property Management, JLL
Steve Plenge ’79: Managing Principal, Pacific Retail Capital Partners
Gary Rappaport: Chief Executive Officer, Rappaport
Beverly Ricks: Principal, Retail Property Solutions, LLC
John Swagerty: Senior Vice President of Development, Acadia Realty Trust

For more information contact cref@sha.cornell.edu

2018 Retail Real Estate Case Competition

The 3rd Annual ICSC & Cornell International Retail Real Estate Case Competition took place during the annual International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) RECon in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 20-21, 2018.

The event, jointly hosted by the Center for Real Estate and Finance and ICSC, showcased international and national teams from top real estate programs competing to win the top prize of $10,000. The teams analyzed a real-world retail real estate case in five days and presented their investment pitch to industry executive judges acting as potential investors.

Cornell University took third place and was represented by Eileen Gao ’19, Max Feng ’19, Lily Li ’19, and Haley Tan ’19. Congratulations to the winning teams!

Final Results and Presentation Videos

1st Place – New York University [View presentation video]
2nd Place – University of Pennsylvania [View presentation video]
3rd Place – Cornell University [View presentation video]

2018 competition photo album

2018 competition program

Winning team of the 2018 Retail Real Estate Case Competition

Judges discussing at 2018 Retail Real Estate Case Competition

Group presenting at the 2018 Retail Real Estate Case Competition

Competing Teams

Teams represented universities including:

Cornell University
New York University
University of Colorado – Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Pennsylvania
University of Queensland

Judges

CREF would like to thank this year’s participating judges:

Karen Case – President and Executive Managing Director; U.S. Commerical Real Estate, CIBC
Holly Cohen- Founder of Holly Cohen Retail Advisory Services
John Crossman – Chief Executive Officer, Crossman & Company
Peter Eisenberg – Principal, Clark Street Real Estate
Stefan Freiberg – Chief Financial Officer, International Council of Shopping Centers
John Gerdes – Executive Vice President, Retail Asset Management at L & B Realty Advisors
Carl Goertemoeller – Chief Business Development Officer, Viking Partners
Elizabeth Holland – Chief Executive Officer and General Council, Abbell Associates
Brad Hutensky – Founder and CEO, Hutensky Capital Partners
Shobi Khan – President and Chief Operating Officer, GGP
Richard Kuhle – Founding Principal, Chairman, and CEO, Vestar Development Company
Kenneth Lamy – Founder, President, and CEO, The Lamy Group
James Maurin – Founder and Past Chairman, Stirling Properties
Marty Mayer – President and CEO, Stirling Properties
John Morrison – Vice Chairman, Choice Properties REIT
Gary Rappaport – Chief Executive Officer, Rappaport
Beverly Ricks – Principal, Retail Property Solutions
George Sakakeeny – Founder and Managing Member, Colonial Square Ventures
John Swagerty – Senior Vice President for Development, Acadia Realty Trust
Sarah Vasquez – Executive Vice President, Management and Operations, Howard Hughes Corporation

For additional information, contact cref@sha.cornell.edu

Student teams present at RECon during second annual retail case competition.

The 2nd Annual Cornell ICSC International Retail Real Estate Case Competition took place in Las Vegas on May 22 at the Wynn Las Vegas during the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) RECon. The event, jointly hosted by the Center for Real Estate and Finance and ICSC, welcomed six teams competing for the top prize of $10,000. Congratulations to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for taking home first place in the competition. Cornell University’s team consisting of Michael Lee ’18, Albert Lin ’18, Larry Robinson ’18, and Jessica Zhang ’17 took second place. We are proud of all of the competing teams for their hard work and dedication. 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.

Competing Teams

Cornell University
The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Guelph
University of Queensland

We appreciate the prestigious panel of judges who also contributed to making the competition a success.

Ronald Altoon, President & Chief Executive Officer, Altoon Strategic
Andrew, Brien, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, Suria KLCC
Karen Case, Executive Managing Director, President of Commercial Real Estate, The PrivateBank
Carl Goertemoeller, Chief Development Officer, Viking Partners
Gordon “Skip” Greeby, President, The Greeby Companies, Inc.
David Henry, Senior Advisor, Kimco Realty Corporation
Liz Holland, Chief Executive Officer, Abbell Associates, LLC
Rick Kuhle, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Vestar
Ken Lamy, Founder, President, & Chief Executive Officer, The Lamy Group, DataPoint International
Stephen Lebovitz, President & Chief Executive Officer, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
James Matanky, Chief Executive Officer, Matanky Realty Group
Jimmy Maurin, Founder & Past-Chairman, Stirling Properties
Marty Mayer, President & Chief Executive Officer, Stirling Properties
John Morrison, President & Chief Executive Officer, Choice Properties REIT
Gary Rappaport, Chief Executive Officer, Rappaport
Bev Ricks, Principal, Retail Property Solutions, LLC
Duane Stiller ’84, Founder & President, Woolbright Development, Inc

For additional information, contact CREF.

2017 Competition Photo Album

2017 Competition Program

2016 Retail Real Estate Case Competition

First Place – University of Guelph
Second Place – Cornell University
Third Place – University of Colorado Boulder and University of Connecticut (a tie)
Fourth Place – Ryerson University

The Cornell University Center for Real Estate and Finance (CREF) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) teamed up to host the Retail Real Estate Case Competition on May 22, 2016 in Las Vegas, NV. The invitation only competition welcomed five undergraduate teams of four students each from the top university real estate programs. The teams were presented with a real estate case which is based on an actual business transaction.

After five days of analysis and preparation, the teams presented their recommendations to a panel of industry judges. The judges declared one team the winner of the $10,000 prize. This intense competition provides an opportunity for students to practice the skills they have learned in the classroom and showcase themselves to the leaders of the industry. For additional information, contact CREF.

2016 Competition Photo Album

2016 Competition Program