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Mason Masters in Real Estate Students Win Case Competition

jpalmisa — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:53:37 +0000

In a competition featuring the best and brightest of the area’s masters in real estate students, Mason’s MS in Real Estate Development team has taken home the grand prize. They are the winners of the Capital Challenge Real Estate Case Competition sponsored by NAIOP Maryland/DC. Competing against teams from Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and the University of Maryland, the Mason team—who branded themselves Patriot Consulting– was awarded the 2013 Capital Challenge Cup—and a $10,000 cash prize.

All teams were given the task of developing two unimproved parcels in the District’s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, adjacent to National’s Park.The land is owned by WC Smith, a DC-based multi-disciplinary real estate firm. The Mason masters in real estate team’s strategic vision included recommendations for multifamily rental units (including 450 sq. ft. “micro-units”), ground level retail and a Hilton Garden Hotel. Their presentation featured a dramatic bird’s-eye video overview of their development proposal.

Sponsoring consultants for the Mason masters in real estate team included WDG, Balfour Beatty, Trammell Crow, Cassidy Turley, Eagle Bank and CPJ Associates. MS in Real Estate Development Program Director Bob Wulff acted as team mentor.

“This was a terrific opportunity for our masters in real estate students to get hands-on experience in every facet of commercial real estate development,” said Wulff. “It was a real-world project and we are proud of the viable, real-world solution that the Mason team designed.”

From left to right— Mason masters in real estate students with mentor Bob Wulff (center) and Mark Hassinger, WestDulles Properties (far right)

Ken Jonmarie, Project Manager, Merritt Properties
Parks Underdown, Regional Manager, Avalon Bay
Malcolm Van De Riet, Vice President, Development, Jefferson Apartment Group
Bob Wulff, Director, Master of Science in Real Estate Development, George Mason University
Alexandra Bettius, Assistant Vice President, Cardinal Bank
John Zemlan, Architect, Grimm and Parker
Roger Lin, Owner, Kinsey Properties LLC
Mark Hassinger, WestDulles Properties, Inc.

Missing from the photo: team member Erik Taylor

Mason to Compete in NAIOP Capital Challenge 2013

Roger Lin — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:29:05 +0000

The NAIOP National Capital Challenge is an intercollegiate real estate case study competition organized once a year by the Maryland/DC Chapter of NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Association). Each year, this prestigious competition is sponsored by a developer, who provides a parcel of real estate the company is in the process of developing. The teams of students representing each of the region’s best real estate masters programs spend the next six weeks to formulate a winning development strategy for the designated parcel.

Image Courtesy of NAIOP Maryland/DC

The NAIOP Capital Challenge has always seen fierce competition amongst the schools. This year, along with the usual suspects: University of Maryland, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University, you guessed it, George Mason University’s MS in Real Estate Development program is also a contender.

William C. Smith Company, a prominent real estate developer deeply rooted in the Washington D.C. area provided two sites in the booming Capitol Riverfront area in South East D.C. for the teams to work on. During the competition, students get to step into the shoes of a major developer, use their imagination and analytical skills to devise a project that is both creative and economically viable. In return, WC Smith will benefit from the focused and creative efforts of all the competing teams.

South East River Front

The Washington Nationals Baseball Park

Real estate development is an interdisciplinary sport. In addition to playing developer, each team is provided with a group of world-class consultants in the various fields that are necessary to making any real estate development project successful. Working with the George Mason team are WDG Architecture, Cassidy Turley (Brokerage), Charles P. Johnson & Associates (Civil Engineering), Balfour Beatty Construction (Construction), Trammell Crow Company (Development) and Eagle Bank (Finance). In addition to these consultants, each team also reaches out to experts in retail, marketing, hospitality, urban planning and government to gain specialized knowledge in order to develop a project that is creative yet grounded in economic reality.

The Yards Project

The Project Site

This intense competition is already underway. On March 29^th, after reviewing written submittals and oral presentations, a panel of distinguished judges selected from the region’s real estate industry will pick a winner.

Students representing George Mason University are Alexandra Bettius, Ken Jonmaire, Roger Lin, Jeanne Skinner, Erik Taylor, Parks Underdown, Malcolm VanDeRiet and John Zemlan. The team is advised by faculty members Mark Hassinger and Robert Wulff.

Go Mason!

“Unrivaled” networking opportunity for Mason MRED students

jpalmisa — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:31:49 +0000

by Erik Taylor, MS in Real Estate Development student, George Mason University

Mason Master’s in Real Estate Development (MRED) students who’ve taken classes with Mark Hassinger have undoubtedly heard him tout the myriad benefits of membership in NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association. To paraphrase Mark, shame on you if you haven’t become a member. Membership dues are extremely modest for Mason grad students and the value of membership is immeasurable.

In fact, that value was on full display last Thursday, May 10, when I, and at least seven of my fellow MRED classmates, joined hundreds of NoVA commercial real estate industry professionals (including Mark) to participate in the association’s annual Bus Tour.

The tour provided a unique, “out of the classroom and into the world” opportunity to witness the real estate development life cycle – the vision, the raw ground, the construction and the assets – and to further reinforce how much I’ve learned about real estate development in my first academic year at Mason. Incidentally, the networking opportunity was unrivaled.

I certainly share Mark’s sentiment with regard to the benefits of NAIOP NoVA membership. However, I’ll leave the shaming of my fellow MRED classmates who’ve not yet become members of the association to him.

Photo courtesy of NAIOP NoVA

NVCommercial CEO Stephen Cumbie shares vision with Mason real estate students

jpalmisa — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:09:44 +0000

More than 50 area real estate executives and Mason MS in Real Estate Development students gathered at the Tower Club last week to hear Stephen Cumbie, chief executive officer of NVCommerical share his insights on the redevelopment of Tyson’s Corner over the next several decades. NVCommercial will be developing a six-acre parcel adjacent to the new Tyson’s Central 7 metro station.

Central to the urban vision for Tyson’s is equalizing the ratio of people living in the area to those working there—as much as possible, said Cumbie, a founding member of Mason’s Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship board. NVCommercial’s current development proposal calls for apartments, destination dining and an outdoor promenade, as well office, hotel and retail space, as for a total of one million square feet. The area, where 150 people now work, will become home to more than 1000 residents and a work destination for more than 1800.

Cumbie’s advice to the Mason Real Estate graduate students–Get to know the millennials…what they’ll need and want. “I believe that demographics are the most underused tools in economics,” he said. “I built my career around anticipating the needs of the baby boomers. The millennials are an even larger group.”

NV Commercial CEO Stephen Cumbie, Mason real estate grad student Erik Taylor, and School of Management Dean Jorge Haddock discuss the future of Tyson’s Corner. By 2050, it is estimated that more than 100,000 will live in the Tyson’s area and more than 200,000 will work there. For more information on the vision for Tyson’s including land use guidelines, environmental stewardship and transportation objectives see the Comprehensive Plan for Tyson’s Corner.