The program welcomes industry leaders to engage with students and provide meaningful insight into various asset classes, markets, and career trajectories in the weekly Lunchbox Lecture series. The Fall 2024 semester, curated by Interim Director Adam Lubinsky with Rebecca Andersen Polimeda, featured 12 guests, recently including:

• Congratulations to Mike Allen, John Mathai, Robb Dalgleish, and Katharina Vrolijk of the MSRED Class of 2024, winners in the annual MIT Center for Real Estate’s annual Case Competition. They presented their winning case study in London (pictured above).

• Current MSRED students participated in the Hack-A-House Competition, an annual 24-hour “hackathon” created to inspire students to develop innovative solutions for the housing affordability crisis. The Columbia team – NYLS Development – was a runner up with David Ni, Jocelyn Yang, Cara Sy, Albert Soe, and Jae Kwang Lee. The competition was developed by the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business, with partner schools including UC Berkeley, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, University of Arizona, University of Denver, and Columbia GSAPP. Interim Director Adam Lubinsky was also one of the jury members.
  The competition allows student participants to collaborate with peers, industry experts, and competition judges to explore and address housing challenges.

The program hosts a number of new courses in the Spring 2025 Semester, including:

• Managing Family Real Estate Businesses
  Co-taught by Adjunct Professors Mehul Patel ‘04 MSRED and Paula Kirby, this course explores the dynamics, challenges, and strategies involved in managing family-owned real estate businesses, which control a vast portion of the global property market. Patel’s extensive experience spans the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He is currently Chief Operating Officer of Midtown Equities, a privately-held real estate investment and development company that maintains holdings, Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, and a Board Member of the Coro New York Leadership Center. Kirby is Managing Director of Plaxall, an innovator in the thermoforming industry and a third-generation family business. She previously served as Head of Marketing for Prada in Milan, as Deputy Director of Prada UK, and Head of Licensing for Alfred Dunhill in London.

• Investment Committee Fundamentals
  Taught by Adjunct Professor Jake Pesci ’19 MSRED, this course utilizes a case study for students to sharpen their analytical and presentation skills by evaluating a potential investment, structuring a deal, and proposing the opportunity to a panel of industry professionals. As Vice President at Lubert Adler, Pesci brings his expertise in originating, structuring, and underwriting private credit investments. Previously, Pesci was Investments Director at Seritage Growth Properties, a publicly listed owner/operator specializing in the development, redevelopment, management, and leasing of diversified and mixed-use properties.

• Condo / Single Family Investment Analysis
  Taught by Adjunct Professor Eric Andersen ’19 MSRED, this course introduces students to the fundamentals of residential real estate development and investment in the suburbs and exurbs – the low-rise homes that comprise the majority of the nation’s housing stock. Andersen is an investment professional for The Brodsky Organization, developer of large-scale residential properties in Manhattan and Brooklyn. He previously worked for The Carlyle Group, Deutsche Bank, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

• Bridget Wilcox ’16 MSRED & Lauren Munari ’24 MSRED were recently recognized by NAIOP (The Commercial Real Estate Development Association) for leaders past and present. Bridget received an award as a long-withstanding and contributive member, while Lauren received an award for her dedication and support as a student member. Read more about the awards here.

• Edgar De La Torre ’21 MSRED of the Investments Team at McCourt Partners helped close an amazing opportunity partnering with Mack Real Estate to develop 28 million square feet of industrial offices, shops, restaurants, and apartments in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Read more about the deal here.

• Vince Cicchi ’19 MSRED, Vice President at CoreVest Finance closed a successful ground-up construction loan on Long Island. Vince was able to provide a local New York developer with extremely competitive financing to demolish an existing restaurant and then in-turn build a brand-new, 16-unit townhome building on the site. Read more about the deal here.

• Danielle Dib ’21 MSRED, Vice President at Dib Development Group, is continuing to grow their geographical diversification outside of New York, as well as adding a new asset type of Food & Beverage Portfolio. They recently sold a large parcel of land, 32,000 SF in East New York to a National Grid, and through that transaction, completed 2 1031 transactions to NNN properties, as well as a Walgreens in Miramar, Florida, and a Hardees in Jacksonville, Florida.

If you would like to share any awards, recognitions, or professional accomplishments, please send updates to Rebecca Andersen Polimeda at raa2186@columbia.edu.

Also be sure to connect by joining the MSRED Alumni LinkedIn Group.

Students in the Class of 2025 are in the process of applying for internships in the Spring semester, and current students can benefit tremendously from the extended alumni network. Please let us know if your organization offers internships during the period of January to May so that we can share these additional opportunities.

Students are able to take the Internship Course for credit and can minimum, work 2 full-days a week. Internships allow them to practically apply what they are learning in a real-world setting. If you have an opportunity, please send an email to Rebecca Andersen Polimeda at raa2186@columbia.edu. The Class of 2025 Resume book is also available for your review.