Author: Melissa Best

This week a team of graduate and undergraduate real estate students presented their proposal to a panel of judges at the annual NAIOP Real Estate Challenge, a development case competition in which teams from the University of Washington, University of British Columbia, and Portland State University real estate programs compete. Students create an investment proposal for a well-located development site. This year the site was in our own back yard, the Sound Transit owned site in the University District, where a tiny home village is  currently located. The UW proposal was heavily focused on affordable housing financing including low-income housing tax credits. This was a big challenge and a great learning opportunity for the students. Several industry experts were brought in to help the students with tax credit financing, land use code for high rise development in Seattle and other design challenges for this visible and important site.

The UW had a strong team for the competition.  Although they did not take home the Bob Filley cup this year, the real world experience creating a development project from the ground up is invaluable.

A sincere thank you to Al Levine and Hal Ferris, our faculty and industry sponsors for all the time you devoted to helping the students.

2023 NAIOP Challenge UW Team

Ye Won Carey Jang, MUP ‘2023
Vivien Chim, MSRE ‘2023
Sam Jarvis, B.S. Real Estate ‘2023
Aarie Liebreich, MSRE ‘2023
Morse Lin, MSRE ‘2023
Jennifer Liu, B.S. Real Estate ‘2023
Tianyi Liu, MUP 2023
Jacob Melaragno, MUP 2023
Maren Grunnet, MUP 2023
Sam Shadkhast, MSRE ‘2024
Amy Towillis, MSRE ‘2023

 

 

This month, cultures worldwide recognize and celebrate women’s accomplishments. In what ways, if any, has recognizing these celebrated accomplishments of women in Real Estate impacted you as a woman entering that same career field?

As a woman entering the same career path as those who are recognized and praised by the media and organizations, I feel like I gain more confidence in building up my career journey. Highlighting women accomplishment posts inspire me to gain hands-on experience from different types of occupations in the real estate industry and do my best in every aspect. They are my role models and they teach me nothing is impossible and women can do great things just like men.

What prompted you to declare Real Estate as a major, and what have been some of your highlights as a student of the major?

I declared real estate as my major because I have been interested in property management, asset management, and portfolio management since when I was a little girl. I would love to build up a solid knowledge base of real estate and seek professional advice from professors, student ambassadors, and advisers regarding future career opportunities. I actively participate in group assignments and establish a bunch of good friendships with peers in class, which is something I am passionate about. In the future, I hope I can establish a bigger career network and ensure which occupation I would like to pursue.

Commercial Real Estate has traditionally been a male-dominated industry. How are women in today’s society working to change that narrative?

The best way to change the narrative that real estate is male-dominated industry is showing everyone that women are capable of doing great in real estate. Big achievements made by women in real estate are concrete evidence that gender cannot and should not permanently determine one’s occupational potential.

In the area of real estate, why is mentorship important to women?

Mentorship is important to women in real estate because a good mentor will guide you, support you, advise you, and help you to set up career goals and future career paths. A mentorship impacts career trajectory since we will have a better understanding of the real estate industry and corresponding career choices and future growth and the very start to slowly form our own network and personal achievements.

How can we empower young women interested in real estate careers?

To empower young women interested in real estate careers, we should set up informational seminars about the real estate industry every quarter and also encourage young women to find their potential by trying a variety of job positions in the real estate industry. Gender-assigned roles and occupations ingrained in most minds and we should educate young women that nobody can belittle their potential and dream career just because we are women and they should chase their dreams regarding negative prejudiced criticisms.