Events Archive

December 1, 2022 | Student Seminar featuring Spencer Levy

Location: Mason Hall Rotunda

Time: 1:00 p.m.

Students joined a seminar with Spencer Levy to learn about his career journey and ask questions about job searching, leadership and the real estate industry in general.

Spencer Levy is Global Client Strategist and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, the largest commercial real estate services firm in the world. In this role, he focuses on client engagement and public-facing activities, including thought leadership work performed in conjunction with CBRE Research. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Real Estate Roundtable’s Research Committee.

Read Spencer's bio

October 11, 2022 | Fall 2022 Real Estate Career Fair

Location: The Blackwell Ballroom

Time: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

The Annual Real Estate Career Fair is an exciting opportunity for our students to connect with potential employers and learn more about career opportunities that exist within the industry. Over 30 companies joined our Fall 2022 Career Fair and we had an excellent student turnout.

September 15, 2022 | "Breakfast" Series: Multi-family Housing in a Raising Rate Environment

Location: Mason Hall Rotunda

Time: 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. (7:30 - 8:00 a.m. networking)

The Center for Real Estate hosted a panel of multifamily experts engaged as ground-up developers, debt providers and equity owners. They discussed their current view of the multifamily market, how inflation and the corresponding rising interest rates have affected the multifamily sector and how they have adjusted their strategies in an economic environment that has not been seen for 40+ years. 

• Craig Foreman | Vice President, Financing at PGIM Real Estate
• Mike Frazaetta | Chief Financial Offer, TGM Associates L.P. 
• Jon Lindell | Executive Vice President, Heitman Real Estate Debt Group
• Sam Miller | Senior Vice President and Principal at Bellwether Enterprise
• Ben Slad | Senior Vice President of Investments, The Laramar Group
• Matt Starr | Executive Vice President of Commercial Real Estate and Leasing, Crawford Hoying

April 15, 2022 | "Breakfast" Series: Central Ohio Housing: Challenges and Opportunities

Location: Mason Hall Rotunda 

Time: 8:00 - 9:00 am (doors open at 7:30 am)

During our first in-person event in over two years, we discussed the challenges Central Ohioans face around housing in our rapidly growing region. Questions that we addressed include: Is there sufficient supply to meet demand? Who is being left out? What programs are in place to address this? Our panel of regional experts discussed where we stand as a community and where there are opportunities for improvement.

Panelists:

• Erin Prosser (moderator) | Assistant Director of Housing Strategies, City of Columbus
• Lark Mallory | President & CEO, Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County
• Leah F. Evans | President & CEO, Homeport
• Robert Schottenstein | Chairman of the Board, CEO & President, M/I Homes, Inc.
• Hope Paxson | VP of Programs & Housing, COCIC: Franklin County Land Bank

March 31, 2022 | Women in Real Estate Dinner

February 23, 2022 | "Breakfast" Series: PropTech

Property technology (PropTech) is the application of information technology and platform economics to real estate markets. Join us as we discuss how the use of technology is changing the field of real estate. What are some ideas that are changing how property is bought, sold, leased, or managed? How do entrepreneurs turn ideas into viable companies? Where do investors see opportunities? What do investors and entrepreneurs look for in a partner?

Time: 12:00 pm EST via Zoom

Panelists:

• Aaron Block | Managing Partner of MetaProp
• Giri Devanur | Founder and CEO of reAlpha
• Kyle Waldrep | Founder and CEO of Dottid

November 30, 2021 | View from the C-Suite

Panelist:

• Lynn Thurber, former Chairman and CEO of LaSalle Investment Management 

November 10, 2021 | "Breakfast" Series: Economic Outlook

Listen in to hear Dr. Zahi Ben-David and Neil Bhutta discuss the current housing market and what has driven the recent housing boom. They also discuss what the future of the housing market could look like based on trends we're seeing.

Panelists:

• Dr. Itzhak (Zahi) Ben-David | Center for Real Estate Academic Director
• Neil Bhutta | Chief of the Real Estate Finance Section at the Federal Reserve Board.

September 15th, 2021 | Real Estate Career Fair

Real Estate Career Fair details

September 14, 2021 | Environmental, Social and Governance Programs in Today's World

On this webinar, our panel discussed how investors, real estate firms, insurance companies and lenders are integrating each component of ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance. Given the proven link between investor returns and a company’s focus upon ESG, how should companies prioritize and implement an ESG program? What resources are there for firms that are new to the process? How can a vibrant ESG program mitigate risks, both reputational and financial?

Panelists:

• Christy Hill | Managing Director at PGIM Real Estate and the head of Americas Asset Management.
• Sara Anzinger | Senior Vice President of Capital Markets at Measurabl
• Alex Symes | Director, is a member of the Global Real Assets Research team for BlackRock

June 8, 2021 | Returning to the Workplace Post-Pandemic

Learn how large multinational companies are managing their back to the workplace process.  Have expectations of employers changed?  What about expectations of their most valuable resource – their people?  How will this affect demand for office space and rents? What are the implications for Central Ohio and beyond? What are the impacts on both the global and local workforce?

Panelists:

• Jeri Ballard
  Executive Vice President of Real Estate, Business Operations Centres, and Corporate Travel
  Royal Dutch Shell
• Michael Patrick Davidson
  Managing Director
  Head of Corporate Real Estate
  JP Morgan Chase & Co.

April 15-16, 2021 | PhD Conference on Real Estate and Housing

Please see the conference website for the 2021 program highlights.

April 7, 2021 | "Breakfast" Series: Opportunities and Challenges in Commercial Real Estate Lending

Panelists:

• Rex Rudy | US Bank
• Peter Morral | Granite Point Mortgage Trust
• Christina Doh | Silverstein Capital Partners
• Mark Williams | Eastdil Secured

March 23, 2021 | View from the C-Suite with Marion McFadden 

Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Senior Advisor, Resilience | Enterprise

February 10, 2021 | Real Estate & the Road Ahead

In early 2020, the global pandemic sent millions of employees to work from home, boosted eCommerce as crowded storefronts became less safe, and caused supply chain issues that continue to this day. Now that there is hope inspired by a vaccine rollout and a possible end in sight, what does the future of commercial real estate look like?

This period of immense change has brought many questions. Will companies need more office space to accommodate social distancing, or less space due to preferences for a permanent work from home economy? Will demand for warehouse space continue to grow to account for uncertain inventory demands, or will businesses return to just-in-time efficiencies? Which areas of retail will regain their footing, and which will never recover? Listen to this webinar, co-hosted by The Center for Operational Excellence and The Center for Real Estate, to hear more about the post-pandemic real estate landscape and the implications for all of us.

Panelists include Yaromir Steiner, CEO, Steiner & Associates; Matt Wersel, Managing Partner, Mohr Partners; Carl Deluca, Head of Real Estate, Americas, DHL.

January 21, 2021 | Hospitality in the Time of Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the most difficult situation in memory for hotel owners and operators.  What is the path forward from here?  Will occupancies return to their prior numbers, and if so, when? 

Listen on to hear our panel of experts discuss where they see reasons for optimism, and where they continue to be cautious.

Panelists: 

• Kevin Mallory | Senior Managing Director and Global Head for Hotels | CBRE
• Noah Silverman | Chief Development Officer | North America Full Service Hotels for Marriott International Inc. 
• Jim Merkel | Chief Executive Officer | Rockbridge
• Barry Bloom | President and Chief Operating Officer | Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

December 1, 2020 | "Breakfast" Series: Economic Outlook

Professor Itzhak (“Zahi”) Ben-David, the Neil Klatskin Chair in Finance and Real Estate at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, was joined by Dr. Gene Amromin, Vice President and Director of Financial Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for a discussion on the post-election economy.

November 17, 2020 | Housing and Healthcare

The intersection of Healthcare and Housing is an exciting and growing space in both the healthcare sector and the multifamily housing industry. Healthcare institutions across the country have come to understand that housing is a critical social determinant of health and that a growing body of research shows that access to safe, quality, and affordable housing can have significant positive impacts on a person’s health. Further, as place-based anchor institutions, healthcare systems have a direct interest in the both the physical and economic health of the communities that they serve. In turn, housing developers across the country are increasingly partnering with healthcare providers and healthcare insurers to develop mixed-use and mixed-income housing projects that that create a positive impact for entire neighborhoods. The NRP Group’s Aaron Pechota has developed more than 3,500 housing units over 15 years and has spearheaded NRP’s partnerships with multiple large healthcare institutions; Amy Riegel leads CareSource’s efforts to create innovative and sustainable approaches to integrating health and housing and focuses on building collaborative partnerships to address social determinants of health, Angela Mingo is the Community Relations Director at Nationwide Children’s and has been instrumental in Nationwide’s approach to neighborhood revitalization efforts on the south side of Columbus; and Sheldon Johnson is both the Vice President of Community Development at Community Building Partners and was selected to participate in Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Culture of Health Leaders – an initiative to for young leaders who want to make their communities more healthy and equitable. This panel will discuss how health and housing are connected and share how their organizations are developing, financing, and working with communities to develop housing that can help make communities healthier, both in Columbus and across Ohio.

October 29, 2020 | View from the C-Suite with David Adelman

For this iteration of the Center's View From the C-Suite series, Mary Beth was joined by David Adelman, CEO of Campus Apartments.

Mary Beth and David discuss topics including: his history in the real estate field, how he was able to grow Campus Apartments to its current size, and how he developed a strong company culture. David also discusses how COVID-19 has affected the student housing market and the most difficult aspects of being a CEO. David finishes by giving his best advice to students and graduates wanting to succeed in the world of real estate.

October 6, 2020 | Webinar: Returning to Work in the Times of COVID-19

The Center for Real Estate and The Risk Institute invite you to join us for a wide ranging discussion on what companies are doing to keep employers and employees safe as they return to the office. In addition, we will discuss how COVID-19 is impacting real estate needs, working from home, and other business disruptions. As companies work through the global COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the expansion of digital commerce, and the increase in work from home model proving to be successful; how much longer will large office spaces be needed and what does a company do with one they no longer need. This webinar will feature experts in the real estate field that are helping companies develop new tools, processes and alternative approaches to adjust. Now more than ever, it is critical to have a plan in place to prevent any economic uncertainty. 

Speakers include:

• Norman Bertke
  National Director of Operations for CBRE’s
  Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) Local business
  CBRE
  -- Norman's Powerpoint Slides
• Tim Spencer 
  Chief Financial Officer
  Safelite
• John Mark Tichar
  Vice President, Sales Leader
  Oswald Companies

September 24, 2020 | Virtual Real Estate Career Fair

September 15, 2020 | "Breakfast" Series Webinar: Real Estate Investing Today- Risks and Opportunities

We were joined by a panel of global private equity investors and institutional advisors for a wide ranging discussion on the current outlook for the US and Global Real Estate markets.

Our panel included:

Moderator
Jennifer Stevens, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Alliance Global Advisors

Panelists

• Chris Merrill, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Harrison Street
• Sean Harris, SVP of Acquisitions, Starwood Capital Group
• Christian Nye, Associate, The Townsend Group

February 25, 2020 | View from the C-Suite with Roy March

We were joined by Roy March, CEO of Eastdil Secured, the leading real estate investment banking company in the United States. Roy discussed his career path, certain aspects of his job and company, and gave advice to the many students in attendance.

January 23, 2020 | Breakfast Panel: Affordable Housing

We were joined by panelists Catherine Cawthon, President of Fifth Third Community Development Corporation, David Cooper, Director and an Officer of Woda Cooper Companies, Inc., Jack Kukura, Chief Investment Officer at Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, and Matt Rhule, Senior Vice President of Housing Development at National Church Residences. 

They were led in discussions of Affordable Housing by Kerstin Carr, Director of Planning & Sustainability at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.

November 21, 2019 | Breakfast Panel: Economic Forecast

We were joined by Spencer Levy, Chairman of Americas Research for CBRE and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, for a lively discussion on the topic of economic forecast.

November 21, 2019 | Fall Members Dinner

Advisory board members gathered to honor Friedl Bohm and his life of accomplishments. 

October 24, 2019 | View From the C-Suite

We were joined by Friedl Bohm and Jack Kessler for discussions of their times leading their respective fields.

Friedl Bohm was chairman of NBBJ until 2006, and since retiring, has served on the Board of Directors of many companies.

Jack Kessler is owner of the John W. Kessler Company and founder and chairman of The New Albany Company.

September 11, 2019 | Career Fair

Companies and organizations joined us at OSU to promote any available positions, while also meeting with our talented students who will soon be joining the workforce or looking to gain more experience through an internship.

September 10, 2019 | Breakfast Panel- Sustainability

This past April, The Center for Real Estate Annual Conference highlighted the issue of Sustainability. In this Breakfast Series, our expert panelists, Madeline Wick, Marjorie Tsang, and Mary Ludgin, dove into the topic of sustainability. They discussed questions such as: How are investors adapting to the inherent uncertainty? How are tenants responding? and Where are the opportunities, risks and possible solutions?

September 9, 2019 | Women in Real Estate Dinner

On September 9th, we hosted our Inaugural Women in Real Estate Dinner at the Faculty Club at Ohio State. We gathered women working in the industry with women students interested in real estate to network with one another, engage in discussions and build a greater community within the field. 

Women in Real Estate Dinner Website

June 6, 2019 | Breakfast Panel: Urban Redevelopment

William Murdock, executive Director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), Erin Prosser, director of Community Development for both Ohio State and its real estate affiliate Campus Partners, Brett Kaufman, founder and CEO of Kaufman Development, and Jeffrey Beam, Director of Development for The Community Builders, discussed recent opportunistic redevelopment in Central Ohio, and give their forecast for the future.

May 16-17, 2019 | PhD Conference on Real Estate and Housing

Our annual PhD Conference on Real Estate and Housing brings together doctoral students from various disciplines to foster a multidisciplinary understanding of real estate and housing related research. The conference is a result of partnership between the Ohio State Center for Real Estate, the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, the Knowlton School of Architecture and Fisher College of Business and it is a selective, refereed conference of research papers in all areas of real estate and housing.

April 9, 2019 | Annual Real Estate Conference

We were joined by Dr. Rachel Kleit, Aaron Gruen, David Gilford, Dr. Elena Irwin, and our keynote speaker, Andres Duany to discuss The City of the Future.

‘New Urbanism’ pioneer Andres Duany praises Columbus development

March 28, 2019 | View From the C-Suite: Eric Bolton

Eric Bolton is the Chairman and CEO of Mid-America Apartment Communities (“MAA”), a publicly-traded real estate investment trust and S&P 500 Company with a total market enterprise valuation of approximately $16 billion. MAA is the largest owner-operator of multifamily housing in the U.S. with a portfolio of over 300 apartment properties, representing over 100,000 apartment homes.

During his tenure as CEO of MAA, Mr. Bolton has led the company through significant growth, including two large public M&A transactions, while delivering long-term shareholder investment returns that rate in the top-tier of apartment REIT sector performances.

Mr. Bolton serves as a Director for East Group Properties (NYSE: EGP) and is on the Advisory Board of Governors of the National Association of REITs.

January 25, 2019 | Breakfast Panel: Capital Markets

Where will the economy be headed next? Is smart money sitting on the sidelines, or in the game? What are the risks and where are the opportunities? How do the events on the global stage affect us in the Midwest. These were the topics discussed by our panel of experts:

• Edward Schwartz, Principal - ORG Portfolio Management LLC
• George Tietjen, Managing Director - Sentinel Real Estate Corporation
• Timothy Gallagher, Managing Director - Annaly Commercial Real Estate Group, Inc.
• DJ Effler, Senior Vice President - Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC

November 29, 2018 | Breakfast Series: Economic Outlook

Dr. Jacques Gordon is the Global Strategist for LaSalle Investment Management (LIM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of real estate services firm, Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL). Dr. Gordon is responsible for the macro strategy and micro research used to guide all investment decisions in 30 countries.

Dr. Gordon received the Graaskamp Award from the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) for his contributions to real estate research and education. He originated the Jones Lang LaSalle Transparency Index in 1999, which has become the world standard for understanding international real estate. His articles appear regularly in the Financial Times, The Journal of Portfolio Management, Wharton Real Estate Review, PREA Quarterly, and other publications.

Dr. Gordon received his PhD in Urban and Regional Economics from MIT, a master degree from the London School of Economics, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

On November 29th, he joined us in the Mason Hall Rotunda to discuss the economic outlook on both a global and regional scale.

November 9, 2018 | Career Fair

The Fisher College of Business, Center for Real Estate's Career Fair at The Blackwell Inn & Pfahl Conference Center on 11/9/2018.

October 23, 2018 | Fall Dinner

The Center for Real Estate's 2018 Fall Dinner honoree was Mr. Jack Kessler. The event was held at the Franklin Park Conservatory, Wells Barn on 10/23/2018. The event was a great success and we would like to thank the speakers who included Mr. Les Wexner and Mr. Bobby Schottenstein.

October 5, 2018 | Breakfast Panel: Brownfield Development 

Development of brownfield sites offers both risk and reward. How do you evaluate each? When do the rewards outweigh the risks? Are the best opportunities already taken? Join us with a panel of experts to examine this topic.

Panelists:

• Mark Wagenbrenner, Wagenbrenner Development
• Mayor Ben Kessler, City of Bexley
• Aaron Clapper, Greater Ohio Policy Center
• Kristin L. Watt, Vorys, Sater Seymour and Pease, LLP

June 7, 2018 | Breakfast Panel: The Global Financial Crisis 10 Years Later

Join us for a conversation with industry leaders as we look back at the Global Financial Crisis that began in 2008. What has changed, and what has not? How have their companies and strategies adapted since the Crisis? What enduring lessons remain?

Panelists:

• Robert Schottenstein, CEO of M/I Homes
• Brad Sturm, Lead Portfolio Manager for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
• Brent Crawford, Principal and Founder, Crawford Hoying

May 17-18, 2018 | PhD Conference on Real Estate and Housing

The Center for Real Estate partners with the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and the Knowlton School of Architecture to hold annual PhD Conference on Real Estate and Housing. The purpose of the conference is to provide a platform for doctoral students from various disciplines to showcase and develop their real estate and housing-related research through high quality discussant and audience feedback.

For more information and to register, please visit the conference site.

April 25, 2018 | Annual Real Estate Conference

What does the City of the Future look like? And what do cities have to do to prepare themselves for the future? The answers to these questions are not simple. They are complex, multidimensional and unique to every city as they work to address challenges connected to growth, changes in our climate, aging infrastructure, technological advancements and many others. Arriving at the right answers is crucial as cities compete on global stage to attract talent, companies and resources.

The 2018 Real Estate Conference will contribute to this conversation by bringing together experts who will discuss principles for planning and building resilient cities, the future of transportation infrastructure and the utilization of technology in the real estate industry.

2019 Annual Real Estate Conference Info

April 5, 2018 | View from the C-Suite: Walt Rakowich, former CEO, Prologis

We sat down with Walt Rakowich to discuss his experience in leading the turnaround of an S&P 500 company at the height of the 2008 recession. Walt had stepped in as CEO of Prologis after the stock had fallen over 96 percent within ten months, and ultimately restored the company to its position as an industry leader through transparent leadership methods that aligned with a core set of values: humility, honesty and heart. Walt shared his lessons learned from this and other experiences in our inaugural View from the C-Suite forum, Lessons in Leadership.

Read about the "View from the C-Suite" speaker series

Walt Rakowich Bio

March 22, 2018 | Breakfast Panel: Capital Markets Outlook: Risks and Opportunities for Real Estate

Where is the economy going next? What inning are we in? Has the game turned into a double header? What will rising interest rates mean for real estate? And what does all this mean for my business? Our panel of experts attempted to answer these questions and more. We heard about opportunities and risks from the perspective of lenders, institutional investors and investment managers.

Panelists:

• Renee Csuhran, EVP and Managing Director of Commercial Real Estate, Community Development Lending and Investments, Huntington Bank
• Mary Ludgin, Managing Director and Head of Global Research, Heitman
• Jennifer Young Stevens, Principal, The Townsend Group

February 22, 2018 | Market Analysis

FRES welcomed Rob Vogt, the Managing Partner of Vogt Strategic Insights (VSI). VSI provides market analyses and market feasibility studies for a range of real estate alternatives, including affordable and market-rate apartments, condominiums, single-family developments, senior living alternatives, commercial space and mixed-use developments.

February 19, 2018 | Executive Lunch: REITs – Phillips Edison

The graduate FRES hosted a lunch and conversation with executives from Phillips Edison & Company (PECO), a Cincinnati-based Real Estate Investment Trust. PECO is one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of market-leading, grocery-anchored shopping centers. PECO manages more than $1.7 billion of gross real estate investments on behalf of Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II, Inc., a non-traded, publicly-registered shopping center REIT, as well as other companies. The executives discussed the REITs landscape in general, as well as full time and internship opportunities with their company.

February 15, 2018 | ULI Hines Local Competition

Every year ULI Columbus, the Center for Real Estate at the Ohio State University, and Knowlton School of Architecture organize a ULI Hines Student Urban Design Competition Local Review. All four graduate teams consisting of students from Fisher and Knowlton School presented their final projects that were submitted for the national ULI Hines Student Urban Design Competition. The event was attended by 70+ local real estate professionals. The keynote speakers, Michael Schiff, Owner and Founder, Schiff Capital Group, and Robert Loversidge, President & Chief Executive Officer, Schooley Caldwell, discussed their plans for Columbus' North Market site.

February 8, 2018 | Commercial Brokerage

Matt Bobst, an associate broker at Colliers International specializing in commercial office, came to talk to FRES about the inner workings of commercial brokerage and why students might want to consider a career in this segment of the real estate industry.

February 2, 2018 | Site visit: CASTO

A small group of students had an opportunity to visit CASTO, one of the oldest real estate companies in central Ohio. The president of CASTO Communities, Brent Sobczak and his development team was on hand to discuss the company, its developments and answer questions. The site visit started with a visit to their offices to get an overview of the company and then went to see one of their new developments, The Jilian.

January 25, 2018 | Executive Lunch: Brian Yeager, President and CEO, Champion Companies

The graduate chapter of FRES hosted an Executive Lunch with Brian Yeager, the President and CEO of the Champion Companies. Brian and his sister, Michelle Yeager-Thornton, built their company from ground up in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Brian has led Champion to becoming a top fifty fastest-growing private company in Central Ohio for six consecutive years (2012-2017). In 2014, he was honored by Columbus Business First as a 40 Under 40 award recipient. Serving in the Ohio Army National Guard from 1999-2007, Brian is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Ohio State University. Currently, Champion owns and manages nearly 5,000 market-rate apartments throughout the growing suburbs of Central Ohio.

January 18, 2018 | Young Alumni Panel

FRES was pleased to welcome a panel of five young alumni from various sectors of the real estate industry. The alumni talked a bit about how they got started in their careers and answered questions about strategies for networking, how to go about finding an internship or a job in the real estate industry, and many more. The panel included Scott Hartley ('14), Real Estate Investments with Nationwide, Jennifer Kochan ('11), development Manager with Lifestyle Communities, Patrick Lynch ('14), Financial Analyst with White Oak Partners, Tom Vetter ('10), CEO of Vetter Companies and Austin Zachem ('17), Investment Analyst with Rockbridge.

January 11, 2018 | Breakfast Panel: Impact of E-Commerce on Industrial Real Estate

With the rapid evolution of e-commerce and related distribution requirements, industrial space is in great demand and landlords must adapt to keep pace. Our panel of experts in industrial real estate investing, logistics, and distribution brought a unique perspective to the issue as they discussed what this means for supply chain logistics and distribution facilities.

Panelists:

• THOMAS GOLDSBY, Professor of Logistics, Chair, Department of Marketing & Logistics
• ADRIAN KUMAR, Vice President, Solutions Design Group, DHL Supply Chain
• JONATHAN RUDERSDORF, Vice President, Prologis
• JOSEPH VERSAGGI, Senior Vice President, Washington Capital Management

Panelist bios

November 30, 2017 | Role of Tax Incentives in Real Estate Development

Chris Clements, JD, and Chris J. Knezevic, JD, of Vorys gave a presentation about the ways various tax incentives can be used to help finance development projects. They covered the major types of tax incentives available to real estate developers, how they work and how they can be used to make projects financially feasible.

November 16, 2017 | Specialized Real Estate: Healthcare and Senior Housing

Joel Mendes, Senior Vice President, JLL and Michael Kudla, Chief Operating Officer, Hplex Solutions, came to Fisher College of Business to discuss a growing niche of the real estate market, senior housing and assisted living. They discussed some of the deals they have been involved in, what makes health care and senior housing different from other sectors of the market, and why this field offers a number of opportunities.

November 2, 2017 | NAIOP Case Competition Final Presentations

On November 2, five teams presented their final projects in front of a group of judges for the 2nd annual NAIOP Case Competition. Congratulations to all students who competed and to those who won. Thank you to NAIOP Central Ohio for their generous support as well as awarding our students $4000 in monetary prizes.

October 27, 2017 | Site Visit: Columbus Downtown Development Corporation

Students can join the Center and the Fisher Real Estate Society on a site visit to the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation as they discuss their plans for the Scioto Peninsula and their impact on downtown Columbus. CDDC's work on Scioto Mile has been recognized by numerous awards, including the 2017 ACEC Ohio Engineering Excellence Award and 2016 American Planning Association National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation.

October 23, 2017 | Executive Lunch: Rob Bilse, Head of Capital Markets, North America, PATRIZIA Immobilien AG

Please join us for lunch with one of our alumni, Mr. Rob Bilse, the Head of Capital Markets, North America, PATRIZIA Immobilien AG. Mr. Bilse has 18 years of experience in the real estate industry. Prior to joining PATRIZIA, he has worked in various capacities including new product development and fundraising for Brookfield Asset Management and PGIM Real Estate. He started his career at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. This is a great networking opportunity for any student who is interested in pursuing a real estate career on the East coast.

October 18, 2017 | Information Session: US Bank Commercial Real Estate

Please come learn about US Bank Credit Analyst program on October 18 from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Recruiters from US Bank will be on hand to give you more details about the program and answer your questions. This program is designed for finance and accounting majors, who are, at heart, real estate people. USBank is one of the dominant players in commercial real estate banking. Our team focuses on large regional and national scale clients in development, construction, realty management, REIT’s, institutional investors among others. The analysts will be working with some of the most experienced and highest caliber lenders in the industry today and working on the underwriting of “live” deals from the beginning of their training. If you are interested in applying for an on campus interview on October 19, please go to Fisher Connect and look for posting number 442425. They are recruiting primarily for their main hub office in Minneapolis. But, also have opportunities in Dallas, Denver, DC, L.A. and Atlanta.

October 11, 2017 | Getting a Job in Private Equity: Real Estate Industry Insights

A discussion with recent hires and managers from Rockbridge, a private equity firm specializing in the hospitality sector, about the hiring process, what questions to expect in interviews, what to prep for, lessons learned, etc. This was an informal and an open forum for students to ask questions they might have about how to best go about getting a job in this segment of the real estate industry.

October 6, 2017 | Executive Lunch: Jamie Gorski, Chief Marketing Officer at The Bozzuto Group

Lunch with Ms. Jamie Gorski, an OSU alum and Chief Marketing Officer at The Bozzuto Group, where she provides strategic marketing direction for the entire company, overseeing all marketing and public relations efforts for Bozzuto’s homebuilding, multifamily development, construction and property management divisions. Jamie’s expertise includes strategic brand development, standards implementation, market analysis and online marketing. She has extensive experience overseeing major digital marketing campaigns and is an expert in advancing both online and offline marketing initiatives. In 2013, the Journal of Property Management named her as one of the women changing the world of real estate management, and in 2012 she was named as one of the most influential multifamily executives to watch by Multi-Housing News. She serves as the current chair of the ULI Washington Communications Committee, on the Zillow Advisory Board and on the Apartment List Leadership Council.

October 5, 2017 | Corporate Real Estate

The undergraduate chapter of the Fisher Real Estate Society hosted an event on Corporate Real Estate. Kevin Day, the Vice President of Real Estate for Big Lots, and Matt McQuade, Managing Director of Business Development at Columbus 2020, talked about corporate real estate, site selection and business development from the city perspective.

September 29, 2017 | Site Visit: Campus Partners

FRES and the Center for Real Estate visited with Campus Partners, an organization established by The Ohio State University in 1996 to spearhead the revitalization of the urban neighborhoods around its Columbus campus. Campus Partners was incorporated as a non-profit organization to work with the city, community agencies, neighborhood civic associations and the university itself. They spoke about the university development plans and the partnerships that make it possible.

September 21, 2017 | Breakfast Panel: Looking Ahead: Future of Multifamily Housing

The future of the multifamily market continues to be a frequent topic of conversation in central Ohio and beyond. While the demographic projections for central Ohio seem to point toward continuing growth, other indicators suggest a near future slowdown. Our panelists discussed trends in the different segments of the multifamily market and what we might expect to see in 2017 and beyond.

Panelists:

• Kerstin Carr, Director of Planning and Environment, MORPC
• James Croft, Chairman and CEO, RED Capital
• Tre Giller, CEO, DRK & Company
• Edmond Joseph, Vice President, CBRE
• Guy Worley, CEO, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation

September 15, 2017 | Real Estate Career Roundtable

The Center for Real Estate, in conjunction with the Fisher Real Estate Society, hosted an annual Real Estate Career Roundtable on September 15, 2017. This annual event is designed to highlight opportunities that exist in the real estate industry and features multiple speakers representing different segments of the real estate industry. This year's speakers discussed careers in private equity and institutional real estate investments, development, consulting and corporate real estate.

• Presenters' bios

September 14, 2017 | Crash Course in Real Estate Terms

This session was designed for any graduate or undergraduate student interested in learning more about the real estate industry but is a bit unsure about the various terms being used. We covered the basics to make sure you can get the most from the various events organized by FRES and the Center and can ask meaningful questions.

September 6, 2017 | Harrison Street Information Session

On September 6, Alex Kozak ('17), joined us to hold an informational session on Harrison Street, a Chicago-based real estate investment management firm that offers investment products for access to well-defined private and public real estate segments.

September 5, 2017 | Fisher Real Estate Society Kick-Off Session

The Fisher Real Estate Society is an undergraduate student club for students who are interested in pursuing careers in the many sectors of the real estate industry. On September 5, FRES kicked off the 2017-2018 academic year with a session where we talked about the year ahead, the planned events, case competitions, scholarships, travel grants and other things.

August 29, 2017 | ULI Hines Case Competition Info Session

The ULI D. Hines Competition is one of the most prestigious real estate case competitions in the world. The Center partners with ULI Columbus and the Knowlton School of Architecture to provide our teams with professional mentors as well as opportunities to learn and receive feedback on their work. The August 29 info session provided interested students with information about the competition and give them a chance to meet current MBA students who competed last year. The teams are composed of 5 students representing at least three disciplines, including business, urban and regional planning, architecture, landscape architecture, public policy and others. The teams work with their industry mentors over the period of two weeks on formulating their proposals.

June 29, 2017 | Breakfast Panel: Repurposing Retail: Risks and Opportunities

The retail environment has undergone tremendous changes over the last decade. The decline of enclosed regional malls presents unprecedented challenges and opportunities to both businesses and municipalities. Our panel will discuss how are businesses and cities adapting to this changing environment and what challenges still lie ahead.

• Carrie Barclay, President, Asset Strategies Group
• Michael Coleman, former Mayor of City of Columbus
• Renee Csuhran, Executive Managing Director CRE & Community Development Lending
  Huntington Bank
• John Meder, Head of Risk Advisory Practice, Wells Fargo Insurance
• Amy Taylor, COO, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation

April 19, 2017 | Annual Real Estate Conference

The term Smart Cities has become a familiar term in Columbus after its success in winning the US DOT Smart Cities Challenge in 2016. While Columbus’ proposal was centered around the idea of smart transportation, the global smart cities movement sees transportation as only one aspect of a broader effort of cities to develop an integrated approach to improving the efficiency of city operations, improving the quality of life of its residents, and growing local economy.

The purpose of our 2017 Real Estate Conference was twofold – provide meaningful and up-to-date information about the progress of Columbus toward completing the projects detailed in its grant application; and provide a more global vision of what Smart Cities encompass, what other cities are doing, and the connection to real estate industry and business in general.

To find out more, please visit the 2019 Annual Real Estate Conference website.

April 18, 2017 | Real Estate and Housing Doctoral Student Conference

The Center for Real Estate has partnered with the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and the Knowlton School of Architecture to hold our first annual doctoral student conference on April 18 at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. The conference is designed to bring together doctoral students from various disciplines to foster a multidisciplinary understanding of real estate and housing-related research. This year features 6 presentations from students from The Ohio State University, Indiana University and University of North Carolina.

April 6, 2017 | Breakfast Panel: Restoring Legacy: Story of the LeVeque Tower

The beauty and character of historic buildings have long been recognized by people all over the world. But so has the effort and cost required to bring back their past luster, while updating them to accommodate a modern lifestyle. The iconic LeVeque Tower, once the tallest building between New York City and Chicago, has undergone a complete transformation over the past five years. Our panelists discussed this major undertaking from their various viewpoints, what made this unique collaborative effort possible and what the challenges of restoring a historical landmark.

• Brett Kaufman, President, Kaufman Development - panelist
• Robert Loversidge, President and CEO, Schooley Caldwell - panelist
• Michael Schiff, Principal, Schiff Capital Group - panelist
• Kyle Katz, President, Katz Development - moderator

March 30, 2017 | Private equity and real estate acquisitions

The undergraduate chapter of FRES is hosting speakers from White Oak Partners, a private equity investment firm focused on multi-family properties. The guests discussed the role of private equity in the real estate industry and the acquisition process.

March 8, 2017 | Joel Steiner, US Bank

The Fisher Real Estate Society hosted a lunch with Joel Steiner, Commercial Real Estate RM at US Bank and a 2008 MBA graduate of Fisher. Mr. Steiner discussed the role of banks and other funders in the commercial real estate industry.

March 3, 2017 | Site Visit: Steiner + Associates

The Fisher Real Estate Society visited Steiner +Associates known for its development of lifestyle retail centers, such as Easton in Columbus or Liberty Center in Cincinnati. The company's executives discussed retail trends and their strategy for addressing the sweeping changes in the retail business.

February 23, 2017 | Lunch with Robert White, Jr.

The graduate chapter of the Fisher Real Estate Society hosted a lunch with Mr. Robert White, Jr. The President and CEO of the Daimler Group, one of the top real estate development and construction management companies in the region. Mr. White discussed the development process, with special emphasis on the site selection process and what differentiates Daimler in the sphere of commercial real estate development.

February 16, 2017 | Commercial Brokerage

The Fisher Real Estate Society welcomed Michael Mullady, Executive Vice President at CBRE. Mr. Mullady is a member of the CBRE Special Properties Group and the Global Supply Chain Group who specializes in industrial advisory services worldwide. His primary focus is working as a tenant advisor in the site selection and lease negotiation process. With the firm since 1998, Michael’s primary responsibilities include the acquisition and disposition of major industrial facilities throughout North America and tenant representation assignments.

February 15, 2017 | ULI Hines and Former Mayor Michael Coleman

Every year, the Center partners with ULI Columbus and the Knowlton School of Architecure to organize a local ULI Hines competition for teams of graduate students from various departments across Ohio State. This year, the teams of five students were tasked with proposing a plan for sustainable development of a large parcel in the city of Chicago. This year's keynote speaker was the former mayor of city of Columbus, Mr. Michael Coleman.

February 3, 2017 | Site Visit: M/I Homes

The Fisher Real Estate Society visited M/I Homes where they met with Robert Schottenstein, the CEO of M/I Homes, one of America's premier home builders. Mr. Schottenstein discussed the single-family home market and future trends, M/I Homes strategy as well as lessons learned from the 2008 recession.

January 25, 2017 | Celebrating Our Legacy and Our Future: Honoring our alumni, Dr. Bob Weiler, Sr. and our 2016 Scholarship Recipients

On January 25, 2017, the Center for Real Estate held an invitation-only event celebrating the life-long achievements of Robert J. Weiler, Sr., and to hear from Steve Schoeny and Jay Kasey about the future development plans of Columbus and The Ohio State University. In addition, we also recognized our 2016 scholarship recipients.

January 19, 2017 | Breakfast Series: Developing Columbus: Tax Incentives and Their Impact

Over the past few decades, the city of Columbus has used its considerable toolkit of financial incentives to help spur development in select parts around the city, helping to usher an era of overall growth and prosperity. Our panel of experts discussed real estate tax incentives available in Columbus and the surrounding communities, their impact on our city and what, if anything, should be changed to allow for greater impact of these investments. The panel was moderated by Mr. Marvin Larger, Executive Vice President for Real Estate, Americas for DHL Supply Chain, and included Kenny McDonald, CEO of Columbus 2020, Yaromir Steiner, CEO of Steiner+Associates; Kelly Saunders, Director for Economic Development, DHL Supply Chain and Scott Ziance, Partner with Vory's LLP. Panelists bios.

January 12, 2017 | Young Alumni Panel

The undergraduate chapter of the Fisher Real Estate Society hosted Rebecca Caprini ('15) of Capitol Equities, Grant Chaney ('12) of CBRE, Scott Hartley ('14) of Nationwide and Patrick Lynch ('14) of White Oak Partners for a panel discussion about the various career path available in the real estate industry, strategies for networking and employment search, and advice on how to best take advantage of opportunities offered at Fisher.

December 7, 2016 | Tax Increment Financing and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

Many urban real estate development projects take advantage of tax increment financing options and Low Income Housing Tax Credits. In this session, Bonnie Harbage, Vice President at Wallick Communities, discussed the role of TIFs and LIHTCs and how companies can use them to help with financing of their development projects.

November 30, 2016 | Site Visit: Nationwide Realty Investors

The Fisher Real Estate Society met with Brian Ellis, the President of Nationwide Realty Investors, who led the award-winning large scale redevelopment of the Arena district and Grandview Yards. Brian discussed large scale urban developments, NRI's plans for downtown Columbus and other areas of our city, and his outlook on the real estate industry in central Ohio and beyond.

November 16, 2016 | Institutional Investments and Real Estate

Graduate and undergraduate students had an opportunity to have lunch with Russ Nicholson, Director of Real Estate Investments South Region for STRS Ohio. STRS Ohio (State Teacher Retirement System) is one of the largest pension funds in the United States with assets totaling $76.2 billion as of June 2015. Russ spoke about STRS investment strategy in real estate, which totals roughly 10% of STRS assets.

November 10, 2016 | NAIOP Case Competition Final Presentations

The Center for Real Estate partnered with NAIOP Central Ohio chapter to organize its first annual undergraduate student case competition. The case competition aimed to give students a taste of what a career in real estate development might look like by asking teams to create a development proposal for a specific land parcel. This year's competition asked students to come up with a proposal for developing the intersection of 15th and High Street. Five teams comprised of 20 students competed for cash prizes worth $4000, as well as a chance to present their projects in front of Campus Partners. For more information, please visit the case competition site.

October 31, 2016 | Private Equity and Real Estate

Students of both undergraduate and graduate chapters of the Fisher Real Estate Society had an opportunity to have lunch with Justin Hakimian, Partner at Almanac Realty Investors, a private equity investment firm specializing in investments into private and public real estate operating companies through a series of funds known as Almanac Realty Securities. To date, Almanac Realty Securities has committed more than $3.4 billion to more than 36 companies. Justin discussed the role of private equity in the real estate industry and his company's investment strategy.

October 27, 2016 | Site Visit: ProLogis Industrial

Students of both undergraduate and graduate chapters of the Fisher Real Estate Society visited an industrial property owned by ProLogis, a global leader in industrial logistics real estate with an operating portfolio of over 3,300 properties in 20 countries. The students got an opportunity to talk to the Central Ohio ProLogis leadership about what makes industrial real estate an exciting field and how it differs from other real estate sectors such as retail or multi-family. Students also got to ask questions about career opportunities in industrial real estate.

October 20, 2016 | Site Visit: Wagenbrenner Development

The graduate chapter of Fisher Real Estate Society visited the Jeffrey Park development with Mark Wagenbrenner, the President and CEO of Wagenbrenner Development. The focus of this site visit was on infill development of urban areas as well as brownfield redevelopment.

October 6 & 13, 2016 | Learning Sessions: Market Analysis and Financial Modeling

The Center, NAIOP and the Fisher Real Estate Society organized two learning sessions aimed at Market Analysis and Financial Modeling for real estate development. The learning session were opened to any student interested in real estate, but they were specially aimed at students who are either currently competing in the DDR or NAIOP case competitions or who are interested in competing in the future. Students learned about how to construct a ProFormas model for mixed development as well as the basic elements of conducting market analysis.

September 29, 2016 | NAIOP Case Competition Kick-Off

The Center and the Central Ohio chapter of NAIOP collaborated on the first annual student case competition for Ohio State undergraduate students. The kick-off event introduced the case students will be working on, highlighted the history of the 4-acre property at the intersection of High Street and 15th Avenue and introduced the team mentors who have generously agreed to help the students with their proposals. For more information about the competition, please visit our case competition site.

September 22, 2016 | NYC Real Estate Alumni Event: Capital Allocation in the Current Market Environment

As part of our outreach to our alumni in the NYC region, the Center organized a panel discussion about the recent trends in capital allocation in the current low-interest market environment. The panelists included Adam Davis, Head of Structured Real Estate, Wells Fargo, Timothy Gallagher, Managing Director at Prima Capital Advisors, and Peter Morral, Managing Director at Pine River Capital Management. The panel and its moderator, Professor Zahi Ben-David, discussed the considerations faced by different types of investors and their decisions in regards to investments based on asset type, geography and product type.

September 22, 2015 | Wendy's Corporate Real Estate

The Center and the Fisher Real Estate Society hosted Mr. Greg Alexander, Director of Real Estate for Wendy's. Mr. Alexander spoke about Wendy's real estate strategy, how their strategies differ from other corporations and the key components that go into development decisions.

September 15, 2016 | Breakfast Series: The Future of REITs

The Center for Real Estate kicked off its new Breakfast Series program with a panel discussion about the future of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry with representatives from some of the largest REITs in the state of Ohio, including Matthew A. Lougee, Senior Vice President of Finance, DDR, Shankh Mitra, SVP of Finance and Investment, Welltower, Inc. and Robert Myers, Chief Operating Officer, Phillips Edison. The panel and its moderator, Michael Glimcher, former President and CEO of WP Glimcher, discussed recent trends and changes in the $1.1 trillion industry, as well as its future outlook. Presenters' bios

September 9, 2016 | Real Estate Career Roundtable

The Center for Real Estate, in conjunction with the Fisher Real Estate Society, hosted a Real Estate Career Roundtable on September 9, 2016. This annual event is designed to highlight opportunities that exist in the real estate industry and features multiple speakers representing different segments of the real estate industry. This years speakers discussed careers in private equity and institutional real estate investments, development, consulting and corporate real estate.

Presenter's bios

April 6, 2016 | James Kress of the Red Capital Group

The Fisher Real Estate Society in collaboration with the Financial Modeling Association, hosted James Kress, Vice President at Red Capital Group. James talked about investments and banking, especially in real estate, and shared his career story. James has years of experience in private wealth management and mortgage banking. Before joining RedCapital, he was a credit analyst at JPMorgan Chase highly proficient in credit analysis, credit policy, customized statistical and financial reports, and risk identification/mitigation. In his present role, he provides preliminary loan analysis for potential clients and assists in the management of a multi-million dollar pipeline of potential clients and future projects.

March 31, 2016 | Visit to Rockbridge

Rockbridge Capital hosted Ohio State for a presentation and Q&A session at their headquarters in Columbus. Rockbridge is a private equity firm with over 25 years of experience investing in the hotel/hospitality industry across the United States. Notable recent projects include boutique hotel developments in Savannah, Charleston, Nashville, and Minneapolis, the purchase of a resort on the coast of Maine, and the development of major 4-star brands in Hawaii and San Jose, California. Rockbridge has raised 6 funds to date, the most recent reaching $438M. During the meeting, several individuals from different parts of the organization will share insights about the hospitality industry, the structure of the firm, and the ways the company creates value in this exciting industry.

March 10, 2016 | Charles Digiovanna, Vice President of Real Estate and Lauren Kirk, Senior Manager of Real Estate, Macy’s

The future of brick and mortar retail has been a topic of discussion for a while given the swift development of online shopping. Mr. Digiovanna and Ms. Kirk discussed the changes to the department store landscape over the last 35 years as well as the different options for a real estate strategy for Macy’s, one of the most storied retailers in United States.

March 2, 2016 | Lunch and Conversation with James Croft, Chairman & CEO, RED Capital Markets, LLC

Mr. Croft is Chairman & CEO of RED’s investment banking unit, RED Capital Markets, LLC, and is a member of RED Capital Group's Board of Directors and its Executive Management Committee. As Chairman & CEO of RED Capital Markets, LLC, he oversees RED’s investment banking activities including tax-exempt and taxable bond underwriting and sales and trading. In addition, he is directly involved in RED’s Mortgage Banking Services business, partnering in various ways with other mortgage banking firms, providing alternate financing options and capital, as well as access to RED’s Capital Market’s sales and trading platform.

He served on the Board of Directors for the National Leased Housing Association based in Washington, D.C. and on the Board of Directors of the Ohio Housing Council and served as its president in 2003-2004. Mr. Croft graduated from The Ohio State University and is a non-practicing Certified Public Accountant.

February 23, 2016 | Columbus Housing Dialogue

The Ohio State Center for Real Estate is hosting the February Columbus Housing Dialogue at which Cindy Flaherty will discuss the South Side development of Columbus.

February 12, 2016 | Real Estate Consulting Panel

For any student interested in careers in consulting or real estate, this panel is a great way to learn about how those two interests can be combined by entering real estate consulting field. The panel will consist of a Brian Dougherty from RealFoundations, Seth Balkanyi from Deloitte Consulting, and a representative from the Townsend Group. The panelists will talk about their experiences in real estate consulting, the various sides of real estate consulting and answer questions.

February 10, 2016 | Yaromir Steiner, the CEO of Steiner + Associates, and the ULI Hines Local Competition

Yaromir Steiner, the CEO and President of Steiner Associates (developers of Easton), gave a keynote during the local ULI Hines competition. He talked about their newest large-scale project, Liberty Center in Cincinnati, OH, and provided his perspective on the future of such developments. In addition to Mr. Steiner, five OSU teams presented their final proposals for developing a large area of Midtown Atlanta.

February 3, 2016 | Villanova Real Estate Challenge and USC International Real Estate Competition Informational Session

Each year, Ohio State sends a team of undergraduate students to Philadelphia, to the Villanova Real Estate Challenge, and Los Angeles, for the USC International Real Estate Competition. Both of these competitions present an excellent learning opportunity for students who are tasked with designing a development proposal for a selected site. At the information session you will have a chance to learn more about both of these competition, what they entail and how you can get involved. Patrick Lynch, an Analyst with Lifestyle Communities and a former participant, joined us to tell students about his experience and the value he gained from his participation.

January 29, 2016 | Tour of The Joseph with Joel Pizzuti, the President of Pizzuti Companies

This is a unique opportunity to tour the recently developed The Joseph Hotel and office complex with Joel Pizzuti, the President of Pizzuti Companies, one of the most well-known real estate companies in Central Ohio. Mr. Pizzuti will be talking about the challenges associated with redevelopment projects in urban settings. The tour is limited to a small number of graduate students and it takes place at The Joseph in Short North.

January 27, 2016 | Carter Andrus, Senior Vice President and Greg Azar, Vice President, ProLogis

Prologis is the global leader in industrial logistics real estate across the Americas, Europe and Asia. They develop and manage a world-class portfolio of high-quality logistics and distribution facilities. ProLogis currently has a total of $57.3 billion in total assets under management. Mr. Andrus and Mr. Azar joined us to speak about what it takes to manage 50 million sq. feet of industrial real estate and career opporutnities in the field.

December 3, 2015 | 2016 Real Estate Trends in Central Ohio

The Center for Real Estate and Columbus District Council of the Urban Land Institute unveiled Real Estate Trends in Central Ohio 2016, its popular annual report offering in-depth insights and timely projections about trends influencing the local real estate market in the coming year. The program included an overview presentation highlighting key findings from Real Estate Trends in Central Ohio 2016 and a keynote presentation by Christopher Herbert, the Director of the highly acclaimed Joint Center on Housing Studies at Harvard University. Dr. Herbert offered insights from the Center’s The State of the Nation’s Housing report. The report analyzes key indicators of the housing market such as the declining homeownership rates across all age groups and increases in rental households.

November 18, 2015 | Lunch and conversation with Jordan Miller, the CEO and President of Fifth Third Bank, Central Ohio

Jordan Miller is the President and CEO of Fifth Third Bank, Central Ohio. In this role, he oversees the bank’s day-to-day activities related to serving our customers throughout central and southern Ohio, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. The bank is an affiliate of Fifth Third Bancorp, and has $4.7 billion in assets, 90 retail banking offices, more than 800 employees serving nearly 350,000 consumer and business customers in 23 counties in three states.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Jordan has nearly 30 years of experience in the financial industry. He began his career at the Comptroller of the Currency, and then spent more than 14 years at Huntington National Bank.

November 17, 2015 | Real estate in corporate context: Edward Hudson, Senior Director of Corporate Research and Real Estate, Kroger Co.

As any other large retail corporation, Kroger Company has an extensive real estate department that is in charge of site selection, asset management and much more. Edward Hudson is the Senior Director of Corporate Research and Real Estate at the Kroger Company, where he is part of a team overseeing the execution of over 3,500 different locations and various types of commercial real estate properties throughout the nation. Mr. Hudson talked about his line of work within the real estate industry, shedding light on the way a corporate real estate group operates within a publicly traded company whose annual sales are over $100 billion.

October 28, 2015 | Conversation with Herman Bulls, Vice Chairman, Americas, JLL

The Ohio State Center for Real Estate was pleased to welcome Mr. Herman Bulls, Vice Chairman, Americas for Jones Lang LaSalle. Mr. Bulls served on active duty for over 11 years and completed 30 years of Army service, retiring as a Colonel. After completing Harvard Business School, he served as an Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point. Following his West Point assignment, Herman served in the Pentagon in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management, where he oversaw a $4 billion budget for selected Army commands.

Herman transitioned from the active Army into commercial real estate in 1989. As founder and CEO, Public Institutions, at Jones Lang LaSalle, he has been instrumental in the implementation of several major projects, including the Army and Air Force’s housing privatization programs and many major real estate developments on college campuses across the nation. Herman’s teams have privatized over 120,000 housing units. During over 26 years at Jones Lang LaSalle he has worked in the areas of development, investment management, asset management, facilities operations and business development/retention.

October 22, 2015 | Visit with Brent Crawford of Crawford Hoying - Dublin Bridge Street Project

A small group of select graduate students from Fisher College of Business, Moritz School of Law and Knowlton School of Architecture visited with Brent Crawford, CEO of Crawford Hoying to talk about his company's latest development - the Dublin Bridge Street Project.

October 20, 2015 | Financial modeling for real estate investment

William Avoli, Senior Vice President at Rockbridge, and Ben Pierson, Senior Associate at Rockbridge, joined us to demonstrate how their company uses financial modeling in their real estate investment decisions. Rockbridge is a private equity firm that invests in hotels. Over the past 20+ years, they have made more than 330 debt and equity hotel investments in 44 states in transactions worth more than $5 billion. Mr. Avoli coordinates all capital raising and fund formation efforts for existing and future investment platforms. He also plays a primary role in investor relations activities.

October 6, 2015 | Jon Willette, CEO of 4Points Development

Please join FRES and the OSU Center for Real Estate as we welcome Jon Willette, who will be talking about his company’s latest development plans for the corner of Lane Avenue and Tuttle Park Place. The format will be an open conversation over lunch with students focused on his company and their development plan for the property. This meeting served as an introduction to the project to all interested students. After this meeting, 6 students were selected to work with Jon's team to follow the entire development process and participate in meetings with the development team.

September 25, 2015 | Real Estate Career Foundation Seminar

The Center for Real Estate, in conjunction with the Fisher College of Business Career Management Office and the Fisher Real Estate Society, hosted the 2015 Real Estate Career Foundation Seminar on September 25. This annual event highlights opportunities that exist in the real estate industry and features multiple prominent speakers throughout the day. The keynote speaker for 2015 was John Huguenard, International Director and Head of Industrial Capital Markets from Jones Lang LaSalle. John has consistently been one of the nation’s top investment sales producers, receiving a number of industry achievements including being named one of the top 30 brokers in the country.

This event is designed for all graduate and undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in real estate or simply learning more about the industry. Other speakers included Arun Singh, Associate Director, MetLife Real Estate Investors; Jon Willette, CEO, 4Point Development; Christopher Ellis, Senior Director of Investments, WP Glimcher; Marv Larger, Executive Vice President, DHL Real Estate Americas and Asia Pacific; Daniel Kayne, Partner, Kayne Law Group.

September 15, 2015 | Investment and Commercial Brokerage

The first undergraduate FRES meeting for the 2015-2016 academic year presented students with an opportunity to engage with high-level professionals from the real estate investment and commercial brokerage arm. Mr. Dan Merkle, Senior Investment Professional from Nationwide's Real Estate Investment and Mr. Russ Williamson, Investment Broker from Colliers International talked about their profession and why real estate is the 4th largest asset class in the world.

September 8, 2015 | Lunch with Ryan Sullivan of Signet Capital

The Center was pleased to welcome Mr. Ryan Sullivan, Director at Signet Capital Metlife, who met with our real estate students to discuss debt and equity securities funded through the institutional private placement market. Ryan is currently responsible for providing clients with financing solutions placed through a multitude of traditional and non-traditional institutional lending sources.

April 22, 2015 | Inaugural Real Estate Conference, featuring Les Wexner

On April 22, 2015, The Ohio State University Center for Real Estate hosted its 2015 Inaugural Real Estate Conference, held at the Longaberger Alumni House. This invitation-only event brought together 120 leaders from all domains of the real estate industry to engage in thought provoking conversations about the state and the future of the real estate industry. The keynote was delivered by Mr. Les Wexner, the chairman and CEO of LBrands.

June 16-17, 2015 Summer | Real Estate Symposium cosponsored by Ohio State Center for Real Estate

The Ohio State Center for Real Estate co-sponsored the 2015 Summer Real Estate Symposium, which took place in Seattle, WA, from June 16-17. The ten-year-old symposium focuses on academic research in real estate finance and includes both theoretical and empirical papers on a wide range of topics, including housing, mortgages, REITs, leasing, and investment. The symposium is by invitation only with attendance being limited to 50 academics and 6 research papers. Other top real estate programs co-sponsor the symposium including Columbia, Cornell, National University of Singapore, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UT-Austin, Wharton and Wisconsin.

April 9, 2015 | Breakfast with Arun Singh, Associate Director, MetLife

The Center for Real Estate welcomed back Mr. Arun Singh, an Associate Director in MetLife’s Southeast Regional Office focused on the origination, underwriting, and asset management of commercial mortgages. Mr. Singh has extensive experience in real estate investments and portfolio management, and met with a select group of our graduate and undergraduate students on Thursday, April 9.

April 10, 2015 | Mark Beliczky, Consultant and Advisor to Carlyle Group

The Center for Real Estate was pleased to welcome Mr. Mark Beliczky, a Consultant & Advisor to The Carlyle Group (a leading global private equity firm which has raised $63BN as of 2014 with $203BN in assets under management and 40 offices across the US, North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Japan, Asia and Australia). Mark focuses on three key sectors nationwide: seniors housing, manufactured housing and condominiums and offices out of Washington, DC and New York City.

Mr. Beliczky was formerly the Founder, President & CEO of Salus Sciences, LLC, has held senior executive positions with Fortune 50 organizations such as PepsiCo, UBS and Citigroup and has over 25 years of domestic and international experience in operations, sales/marketing/merchandising, market expansion/ development, reengineering, and has been engaged in numerous business start-ups, turnarounds, transformations, and mergers/integrations.

February 25, 2015 | Thomas DeRosa, CEO and Director of Healthcare REIT

The Center for Real Estate welcomed Mr. Thomas DeRosa, the CEO and Director of Healthcare REIT, a Toledo-based real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of senior housing and healthcare real estate. The company employs 400 professionals in its core business functions, which include investment, development and asset management, and is the 4th largest company in the state of Ohio. Mr. DeRosa and his Vice President for Senior Housing, Joe Weisenburger, spoke to students and industry professionals about their company and the future of the healthcare real estate industry.

February 12, 2015 | ULI Hines Case Competition

Every year the Center for Real Estate in collaboration with the Knowlton School of Architecture and ULI Columbus, supports 3-4 graduate teams from Ohio State as they compete in one of the most prestigious real estate competitions in the country for a grand prize of $50,000 as well as local prizes amounting to $5,000. The ULI Hines Competition is designed for multi-disciplinary teams of graduate students who are challenged to devise a development program for a real site in a real city in the US, including drawings, site plans, and market-based financial data.

This year Ohio State fielded three graduate teams comprised of students from finance, architecture, city and regional plannig and law. The case was set in a neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the students are challenged to transform this space into a thriving neighborhood in a way that highlights its locational advantages, its proximity to the French Quarter and the new medical district, and its articulation through the Lafitte Greenway, while finding opportunities to connect the urban fabric along the I‐10 elevated highway on North Claiborne Avenue.

The three teams presented their complete projects to a panel of four judges and an audience of approximately 60 people comprised of students, faculty and industry professionals. The evening also included a keynote address by Brian Ellis, the President of Nationwide Realty Investors, who talked about the challenges faced by him and his team throughout the Arena District and Grandview Yards projects.

February 5, 2015 | The Ohio State Center for Real Estate Open House

The Ohio State Center for Real Estate hosted an invitation-only open house for industry leaders and the University community. The Open House was designed to introduce the Center, its mission and its leadership and to provide an opportunity for industry leaders to meet with members of the Executive Committee of the Center.

View the Flickr album of photos

January 29, 2015 | FRES hosts Mr. Matt Mahaffey of Nationwide's Mezzanine/ Equity Real Estate Investment

On January 29, 2015, the Fisher Real Estate Society hosted Matt Mahaffey of Nationwide's Mezzanine/Equity Real Estate Investment team. Mr. Mahaffey discussed his team's investment process and the role of insurance companies in the commercial real estate landscape. He was joined by his analyst, Scott Hartley, a recent graduate of FRES.

November 19, 2014 | Real Estate Trends in Central Ohio 2015

The Ohio State Center for Real Estate has partnered with ULI Columbus to yet again expand the ULI Emerging Trends effort with a more in-depth measure of the Central Ohio real estate market. The resulting report, Real Estate Trends in Central Ohio 2015, offers insights into the state of real estate industry in Central Ohio and its outlook for 2015. The report was generated based on a survey that was sent to industry leaders across the Central Ohio region as well as a number of interviews with real estate professionals.

November 6, 2014 | Mr. Stephen Leeper, CEO of Cincinnati's 3CDC: The role of public-private partnerships in urban regeneration

The Ohio State Center for Real Estate was thrilled to welcome Mr. Stephen Leeper, the CEO of theCincinnati Center City Development Corporation. 3CDC is a non-profit, real estate development and finance organization focused on strategically revitalizing Cincinnati’s downtown urban core in partnership with the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati corporate community. Their work is specifically focused on the central business district and the site of the 2001 Cincinnati riots, Over-the-Rhine. Under Mr. Leeper’s leadership, 3CDC, in partnership with public and private entities, successfully managed to turn Over-the-Rhine into a nationally heralded success story of neighborhood revitalization. Mr. Leeper spoke about the projects undertaken by his organization and the importance of public-private partnerships in revitalization efforts.

The keynote was preceded by Learn from the Best event, hosted by the ULI Columbus Young Leaders group. The Learn from the Best event is designed to provide an opportunity for young professionals and students to have engaging conversation with leaders in the industry.

October 1, 2014 | Building Healthy Columbus Workshop

The Center for Real Estate was proud to partner with the ULI Columbus chapter on the Building Healthy Columbus Workshop that took place on October 1. The workshop was designed to collect and distribute the opinions of Young Professionals on how our health is being impacted by the physical design of our community. The event highlighted the Ten Principles of Building Healthy Places, and then led participants in a discussion about how these principles are (or are not) being implemented locally and how Columbus built environment could be improved.

September 24, 2014 | Real Estate Career Foundation Seminar

The Center for Real Estate, in conjunction with the Fisher College of Business Career Management Office and the Fisher Real Estate Society, hosted the 2014 Real Estate Career Foundation Seminar sponsored by Rockbridge. This annual event highlights opportunities that exist in the real estate industry and featured multiple prominent speakers throughout the day. The keynote speaker was Jim Merkel, CEO of Rockbridge, who discussed the importance of tenacity, transparency and understanding of human nature to a successful career in the real estate industry. Mr. Merkel's keynote was followed by an industry panel of Brent Crawford, CEO of Crawford Hoying, Christopher Diffley, Managing Director at Rockbridge, Michael Mitro, SVP of Institutional Lending at Huntington, Craig Kegg, Senior Vice President at Grandbridge Real Estate Capital and Todd Harrop, Associate Vice President at Nationwide REI.

September 12, 2014 | Metlife Investment Luncheon

Mr. Arun Singh, Associate Director at Metlife, returned to The Ohio State University to meet with our real estate students to discuss general trends in commercial real estate and the market's outlook for the future. Arun is currently responsible for the origination, underwriting and asset management of commercial mortgages in the Southeast and Caribbean. He covers all property types over $20M and also assists with equity acquisitions.

September 8, 2014 | Meeting with Walmart Real Estate Executives

The Center for Real Estate and the Fisher Real Estate Society was pleased to host a discussion with Mr. Michael McGhee, the Senior Director of Real Estate at Walmart Stores, Inc. Walmart Stores has identified Fisher College of Business as a target school of interest for their Real Estate programs and Mr. McGhee discussed Walmart’s growth strategy, sustainability efforts and internship opportunities in their real estate division with both graduate and undergraduate students from the Fisher College of Business and the Moritz School of Law.

April 13-14, 2014 | Villanova Real Estate Case Competition

Four Fisher outstanding undergraduate students have placed third in the prestigious Villanova Real Estate Competition that took place on April 3 and 4, 2014, in Philadelphia, PA. The student teams were tasked with proposing a mixed-use development plan on a vacant 32 acre site in Sunrise, Florida, which would incorporate the needs of the community and capture a desirable overall return on the equity in the project. Teams had three days to work on their proposals followed by final presentations to judges. The Center has financially supported their travel to the competition.