14th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition

By: Elizabeth Cunningham
cirecc 2022 1

Congratulations to the University of Southern California

…for taking first place at the 14th Annual Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition in New York City on November 11, 2022. Second place went to Georgetown University, third to the University of British Columbia – Sauder School of Business, and fourth place to Villanova University.  Seventeen undergraduate teams competed for over $20,000 in prize money. The competition was held at Convene in the Financial District.

Cornell University was represented by (left to right): Benjamin Gelb ‘23, Jonathan Le ‘23, Rachel Perry ‘24, Lauren Scheller ‘23, Rosemary Wei ’23, Alexander Izvolsky ‘23
Cornell University was represented by (left to right): Benjamin Gelb ‘23, Jonathan Le ‘23, Rachel Perry ‘24, Lauren Scheller ‘23, Rosemary Wei ’23, Alexander Izvolsky ‘23

The event, developed by the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration professor Daniel Quan, attracts a global array of students, tasks the teams with analyzing an actual commercial real estate transaction, rendering a recommendation, and providing a presentation of their analysis and proposal. The competition itself is the culmination of an intensive five-day analysis preparation by the students and a full day of presentations. The teams are judged on their investment recommendations, approach to the problems, and presentation skills. Judges in the competition were real estate executives representing top companies in the industry.

Participating universities include: Baruch College – City University of NY, Cornell University, Georgetown University, Indiana University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Penn State, Rutgers University, Southern Methodist University, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), University of Auckland, University of British Columbia – Sauder, University of Connecticut, University of Georgia, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Villanova University.

Industry judges included: Amy Applebaum ’86, vice president, Deputy Team Lead – NY Real Estate Group, Bank of China; Kenny Blatt ’81, principal, CPG Real Estate; Brian Collins, executive vice president, director of development, Silverstein Properties, Inc.; Adriana de Alcantara, senior managing director, fund manager, Hines US Property Partners (HUSPP); Paul Fine ’07, managing director, real estate, KKR; Alan Kanders ’87, principal, Three Wall Capital;  Bruce Kimmelman ’91, executive vice president of capital markets and acquisitions, Macklowe Properties; Fabiana Lotito, program director, NCREIF; Michael Nash, senior managing director, Blackstone; Francisco Ramirez, chief operating officer & executive vice president, Tishman Realty Corporation; and Bradley Walker ’10, managing director, Mavik Capital.

The competition is funded in part by the Marjorie Boas Levins and Jack Levins/F.H.T. Rhodes Real Estate Case Competition Fund.

CIRECC 2022 Program

Headshot of Elizabeth Cunningham

Elizabeth Cunningham

Elizabeth Cunningham is the program manager for the Center for Real Estate and Finance at the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration.