A team from the Colorado State College of Business earned this year’s bragging rights at the Rocky Mountain Showdown of student real estate competitions – the ICSC Sherman Miller Real Estate Competition.
Undergraduates at CSU, the University of Colorado – Boulder and the University of Denver competed in the 2015 International Council of Shopping Centers Real Estate Competition, hosted by CSU last week.
Distinguishing themselves in the job market
“The Everitt Real Estate Center was pleased to host the second annual International Council of Shopping Center’s undergraduate real estate competition,” said Richard Button, interim executive director of CSU’s Everitt Real Estate Center. “We cannot think of a better opportunity for the students to distinguish themselves in the job market as candidates.”
The competition began with a shopping center investment case. Teams employed their problem-solving skills and knowledge while analyzing the retail shopping center real estate investment. The students then presented their case to an industry panel of judges. Team presentations were limited to 20 minutes, with 15 minutes of Q&A from the judges. Students Denzel Myers, Jake Miller, Lance Eberhard, Zach Johnson and Sam White represented CSU.
‘Impressive amount of detail’
“Each team in this year’s ICSC Real Estate Competition worked very hard in a short amount of time and submitted excellent presentations,” said Bethany Geisert, administrative coordinator with the Everitt Center. “After reviewing the presentations, the judges pointed out the impressive amount of detail that was provided by the CSU team, especially considering the quick turnaround.”
Each team was judged on their analysis, financing, presentations and deliverables. When analyzing and creating the pro forma, the teams had to consider pieces such as market overview, property summary, rent roll and cash flow, holding period, loan-to-value and debt/equity capital stock. During the presentation, teams supported their recommendations with their analysis.
Value of real world experience
“Something I’ve stressed to everyone I’ve talked to about this competition is the value of real world practice,” said Sam White, CSU’s team captain. “As students, we are almost exclusively focused on the academic part of our skill set. However, real-world practice and experience is the best way to translate this academic knowledge into real-world value. My teammates and I were focused on winning, but throughout the experience we understood the importance of this experience goes far beyond the value of finishing first.”
CSU’s Everitt Real Estate Center
The Everitt Real Estate Center integrates CSU’s real estate students with the real estate industry, and disseminates applied research that responds to critical current and future real estate issues, whether regionally or globally. The Center aims to equip students, members, and the local community-at-large by developing real estate educational programs that supplement standard academic and industry training initiatives.
