The University of Connecticut's Center for Real Estate has had yet another successful semester. Real Estate students had several opportunities to network with nearly 750 professionals in the industry. Some of the events this fall included the Real Estate Society New York City Field Trip, the 3rd Annual Golf Tournament, Alumni and Friends Football Reception, and the 17th Annual Connecticut Commercial Real Estate Conference. There have also been a number of speakers for the Professionals in the Classroom Series. Stay updated with the newsletters to see next semester's events.

The Real Estate Society has met three times this semester to discuss upcoming events, interviewing and networking tips, along with reception etiquette.

They also host several social gatherings that serve as a forum for society members to interact outside of the classroom and in a more relaxed setting.

The Real Estate Society officers seen in the photograph are from left to right: Christine Elmore (Secretary), Katherine Tunsky (President), Rachel Schneider (Vice President), and Craig Macdonald (Treasurer).

On Wednesday September 19th, 43 students and 5 faculty and staff went to New York City to visit 7 firms in the real estate industry.





The day started with a luncheon presentation at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). ICSC is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Sarah Ritchie, Jay Starr, Brannon Boswell, and Susan Pistilli gave a brief summary of their departments within the organization including the programs they run, their many books and publications, and the benefits of becoming a member. We also enjoyed the insight of guest speaker, Elise Jaffe, Senior Vice President with Dressbarn and ICSC Trustee and a member of the Board of ICSC's Educational Foundation. Elise stressed the importance of leg-work, creativity and hard work in order to be successful and the need to think outside the box. Elise summed this all up stating her job is more of "an art, not a science".

We appreciate Mike Goman, CEO of Konover Development Corporation for initiating the visit with ICSC. After lunch, the students split into three groups to visit various companies.

We want to thank our alumni and the participating companies for allowing the students to receive a first hand account of the New York real estate industry. We could not possibly do all that we do without the generous time and contribution from these companies.

Broadway Partners is a young and fast growing private real estate investment and management firm. It started in 2000, and seven years later has acquired office assets exceeding $15 billion. They are currently expanding their company internationally.


Jim Valente (UConn MBA '95), the managing director of research, greeted the students and began the presentation. He also brought in John Schrenker, who oversees asset and property management and Scott Lawlor, the founder and CEO of Broadway Partners, to discuss the company's goals and strategies.








Sujohn Sarkar talked about the decision of whether or not to invest in China and India and on other ideas of global expansion. Tyler Wiggers, the VP of Finance, discussed the strategy of sourcing acquisitions and refinancing debt.

Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank is an international bank that focuses on commercial and investment products. The company's headquarters is in Paris and has offices in 60 countries worldwide. Calyon has approximately $380 billion in assets.

John Wain (UConn '88) and Michael McGorty (UConn '07) spoke at Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank. Michael spoke on his internship with Calyon last spring and what he is currently doing for the company. John Wain stressed the importance of getting Michael involved in all different aspects of the business so he will be well trained. John Wain also discussed the recent market trend and how it has, fortunately, not effected their business.

Carnegie Corporation was started by Andrew Carnegie in 1911. Today they continue to follow Andrew Carnegie's vision of philanthropy, and granted approximately $90 million during fiscal year 2006-2007. Those on the investment side of the trust focus on a diverse allocation of assets to ensure they raise the specified amount to donate and to cover inflation.



Greg Rozolsky (UConn '06), and Ellen Shuman,VP and chief investment officer for the foundation, made presentations. They talked about how the corporation subcontracts managers to invest the foundation's money, particularly the role of real estate assets in their portfolio.

GE Real Estate is a unit of GE Commercial Finance and one of the world's leading resources for commercial real estate.



Vasilios Diakogeorgiou (UConn MBA '07) greeted and spoke to the students. Topics discussed included their management trainee program where they rotate a an employee around different areas of the company to broaden their financial knowledge. They also mentioned their global expansion into China and Mexico where they are the number one commercial lender.

PricewaterhouseCoopers real estate industry sector assist other companies in managing risk and aid in their decision making and planning. Some services they help provide are developing real estate strategies, evaluating acquisitions and exploring finance options.


Tom Johnson (UConn '86), Justin Salvato (UConn '06), Mike Bogdan (UConn '07), Matt Aaronson and Carrie Greenbaum all spoke on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking is a reference bank focusing in euro capital markets, derivative products and structured finance. Societe Generale does business in 45 countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.



Karsten Kibbe (UConn MBA '91) and Andy Field (UConn '06) met with the students in the executive board room. Karsten talked about the importance of knowing valuation in real estate in general and how is crosses all aspects of the industry. Andy gave a brief statement about getting into the field from a recent alumni point of view.


 

The annual NYC Alumni and Friends Reception was held on Wednesday, September 19th at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. The evening was sponsored by the Real Estate Center Council. Approximately 100 attendees enjoyed appetizers, cocktails and conversation among students and professionals. To view pictures from this year's trip click here.

MBA Breakfast networking events, scheduled every other week, offer MBA students the opportunity to share information on job possibilities, course information, etc. In addition, MBA students participate in case presentations from outside firms during the semester.

On Thursday, October 4, 2007 two professionals from HIMCO Real Estate Group spoke to the MBAs at their breakfast meeting. HIMCO is the investment arm of the Hartford Insurance Company. Jack Maher, Senior Vice President of Private Real Estate and Rick VanSteenbergen, Senior Vice President of Private Real Estate both work in the whole loans group at HIMCO. They each spoke about their career history, what they do at HIMCO and the opportunities for interns and graduating MBAs. They also led a great discussion with the MBAs about the current market and where they see it going.

The first professionals in the classroom was on Thursday October 18th. Jude Satalino, Mortgage Consultant for The McCue Mortgage Company gave students an introduction to home buying with an emphasis on the mortgage application approval process. Jude has worked with McCue Mortgage in New Britain, CT for over fifteen years.

Mike Riccio, a mortgage broker at CBRE|Melody spoke in two of Ray Kehrhahn's finance classes on Wednesday November 14th. Mike's presentation gave a step-by-step overview of how commercial loans are processed. The small team of three at CBRE|Melody in Hartford underwrites and services commercial mortgage loan investments for all property types.


Thank you to all the speakers for their time and dedication to the Center of Real Estate of the University of Connecticut.