The winning team will go on to compete at the 11th Annual Sherman Miller Real Estate Case Competition this spring. 

(The winning team, Flatiron Capital (from left to right): Jonah Duran, Aidan Fletcher, Emma Bedrick, Alex Jones and Peter Hawkins.)

(The winning team, Flatiron Capital (from left to right): Jonah Duran, Aidan Fletcher, Emma Bedrick, Alex Jones and Peter Hawkins.)

Jonah Duran, Aidan Fletcher, Emma Bedrick, Alex Jones and Peter Hawkins formed the first place team that won $1,000 in prize money at the Sixth Annual Bascom Undergraduate Real Estate Case Competition. They will go on to compete at the 11th Annual Sherman Miller Real Estate Case Competition.

The Bascom Undergraduate Real Estate Case Competition launched in 2019 to expand opportunities for CU’s real estate students to gain experience with real-world business cases, develop their analytical skills and prepare for success in the commercial real estate industry. To participate, students audition for a semester long co-curricular program, which builds on their coursework to improve presentation, speaking and collaboration skills, along with providing hands-on practice with contemporary market conditions and analytics.

The case competition program, which uses a case study-based method, is generously supported by Bascom and the David Kim family. A strong supporter of higher education and experiential learning, Kim recognized the advantage students have in their career search when they’re given chances to tie together academics and business scenarios before graduation.

“The Bascom Case Competition is an excellent opportunity for our students to address real-world challenges and apply the knowledge gained from classroom experiences,” said Julie Gibson, executive director of the Klump Center for Real Estate. “Co-curricular activities through the Klump Center act as a differentiator for our students and graduates.”

The winning students also shared their thoughts about bringing what they learned in class to the competition.

“The curriculum from REAL 3000: Principles of Real Estate was helpful in accurately determin[ing] the optimal buy and sell prices for the investment property,”

said Aidan Fletcher.

“It isn’t until you look at a real estate transaction on your own that you understand how many components go into making a transaction successful,” said Alex Jones. “The case competition allowed me to apply the concepts that I learned in my classes into a real project where I could understand what it truly takes to handle a transaction.”

The team prepared for the competition by joining a workshop series led by team of Center staff, Leeds faculty and volunteer industry professionals. During the workshops, the team spent time diving into in-depth real estate concepts and providing time for students to practice their presentation.

“The practice case feedback really set us apart,” explained Peter Hawkins. “We were given over 15 minutes of direct feedback on our analysis and presentation style. In the moment, it was challenging to hear what we did wrong, but our group rallied around the feedback, embraced our old mistakes and worked hard to fix them.”  

Jones added, “The workshop series helped me understand how to look at real estate from a creative and practical lens. The instruction and training also emphasized the importance of presentation delivery so we could confidently present in front of judges.”

The workshops and practice not only led the students to victory, but they also provided them with the skills to confidently move forward in their careers. Jonah Duran shared that “this experience was unmatched in preparation for my career, as I now have the confidence, skills and connections to pursue a number of fields in the industry.”

Fletcher shared a similar sentiment. “The case competition had a profound impact on my career journey. It offered invaluable insights into investment real estate beyond what is typically covered in the classroom. The experience not only enhanced my problem-solving skills, adaptability and professional presentation abilities—it also has served as a significant differentiator in job interviews and applications.”

The winning team will have another opportunity to build their real estate chops by competing at the 11th Annual Sherman Miller Estate Case Competition in April 2025. In partnership with CU Boulder and the University of Denver, the CSU Everitt Real Estate center will host the competition where students will be asked to perform a valuation, tenant mix, rent rolls, cash flows, and more of a retail commercial development.

For students who want to get involved in future case competitions to build their practical experience, they can visit the Klump Center's Co-Curricular page.

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In a challenging job market, Auggie Gehret connected with alumni and industry professionals to launch his career in commercial real estate.

For recent graduate Auggie Gehret (Fin, RelEst’24), networking was the key to landing his first full-time job as a real estate analyst at , thanks to an internship and the support of Leeds alumnus Jeff Latier (MBA’08).

Little did Gehret know that volunteering at the Annual CU Real Estate Golf Tournament would kickstart his career. He was assisting with setting up chairs and signs when the program director introduced him to Latier.

Practice makes perfect

Despite having a new connection, Gehret wasn’t a pro at networking. “My first networking call with someone who wasn’t a recent grad was with Jeff, and yes, I was definitely nervous,” he said.

“I think a lot of students are afraid to ask questions that don’t seem smart.” He encourages students to ask detailed questions to learn as much as they can. Even questions that might seem unsophisticated “can help you navigate your job search and career placement.”

Latier echoed that sentiment. “It’s kind of like life—you’ve got to practice. The more reps you do, the better you get. It might start out clunky, but it gets better over time.”

As an active alum with the Michael A. Klump Center for Real Estate and CU as a mentor and guest lecturer, Latier is always excited to meet with students interested in his career and expertise. “People genuinely want to help students and are willing to set time aside. It’s a unique opportunity to take advantage of.”

“People genuinely want to help students and are willing to set time aside. It’s a unique opportunity to take advantage of.”

Jeff Latier (MBA’08)

“The real estate center supported me in leveraging their network,” Gehret said. “Once I talked to Jeff, I was able to snowball that into conversations with other professionals.” His connections with other CU alumni helped him find an internship at Ares before his senior year.

Building a network

For Gehret, building a solid network came from getting involved at Leeds. He participated in the CU Real Estate Club, Real Estate Fellows Program and multiple case competitions, including the Undergraduate Real Estate Case Competition.

“The core curriculum helped to set me up,” said Gehret. He found Teaching Professor Curtis Sears’ Intro to Real Estate and Real Estate Senior Seminar to be instrumental. “He gave me a more holistic understanding of the commercial real estate industry.”

Beyond classes, events helped him build experience. “I think what really topped off my ability to get my ideal post-grad role were the external events held by the center.”

“The heart of the work we do at the Klump Center is providing students the opportunity to meet, interact and learn from industry practitioners,” said Julie Gibson, the Sherman R. Miller Executive Director of the Klump Center. “Jeff Latier is a great example of an alumnus who continually gives back to his alma mater by taking time to meet with students. For Auggie, taking advantage of the experiential learning the center offers paid off with landing a top job in the region,” she added.

Gehret found the Real Estate Case Competition to be a great way to stand out. “It was by far the most influential for my professional development. It gave me the chance to develop skills and knowledge that applied to nearly all real estate roles and let me network with industry professionals who served as judges.”

Latier emphasized the value of Leeds’ opportunities. “The ability to work on a real-life real estate project and get feedback from senior-level executives sets the real estate program apart.”

Refining career goals

Initially, Gehret didn’t intend to go into commercial real estate. He planned for a career in investment banking, but as he learned more about real estate, it sparked a passion. He didn’t have a clear picture, though, of what working in commercial real estate might look like.

After meeting Latier at the tournament and having a conversation on Zoom, Gehret connected with a dozen other professionals who worked at Ares, most of whom were CU alumni. Those conversations helped him gain a better understanding of his path.

“Jeff and other CU alumni really helped me understand commercial real estate outside of the classroom,” said Gehret. “From there, I was able to narrow what I wanted, and I really directed my job search and extracurriculars with that in mind.”

He was most interested in portfolio management, a specialized area within real estate that involves managing a firm’s investment holdings. “Trying to independently understand exactly what a position entails is challenging, but it helps in narrowing down the roles you’re interested in,” he explained.

“I really had to network with people who understood the position and what the day-to-day looks like,” Gehret said. As he approached the interview process, those conversations about the role and team functions prepared him to thoughtfully craft his answers to interview questions. “Networking with all of those people was pivotal to me getting hired,” he said.

Paying it forward

Latier reinforced leveraging the alumni network. “Alumni are extremely loyal. It’s a result of this wonderful cycle that starts with the real estate program and Leeds providing a high-quality student experience, and then students want to give back as they grow.”

Gehret is following Latier’s lead as a dedicated and involved alum. He communicates frequently with staff and faculty at the Klump Center and recently joined a roundtable of professionals to speak with students. “It was nice to be on the other side and give advice on how they can start their career,” he said.

Latier continues to be energized by the questions he gets from students. “I’m always happy to meet with students and come back to campus. It’s a great way to give back and stay connected.”

To learn about the wide range of career resources and networking opportunities at Leeds, visit the Career Development Office. 

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For nearly 20 years, University of Colorado real estate alumnus Ben Woolf has been giving back to his alma mater. This year, he is taking on a new challenge as chairperson for the International Advisory Board (IAB) for the University of Colorado Real Estate Center (CUREC), a role he will helm for two years. Woolf earned his MBA with a real estate focus in 2004 from the Leeds School of Business.

“I feel a sense of responsibility to give back to CUREC, Leeds and the students by stepping into the chairperson role," Woolf said. “For the past 20 years, I have seen time and time again CUREC’s impact on students and the real estate industry, and I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without CUREC. I look forward to serving the center in this new capacity.”

Leeds and CUREC benefit from a robust and engaged alumni community and a powerful group of industry supporters. The IAB, an invitation-only board, consists of C-suite leaders from the nation’s leading real estate firms who commit significant resources to support the academic and co-curricular work of CUREC. The board provides counsel, curriculum advice, mentorships, financial support, industry insights and career opportunities for the program.

“Ben’s commitment and involvement with CU since he graduated has been tremendous. He is strategic and thoughtful in all he does, and I can think of no one better to step into the chair role for the IAB. Ben has taught the MBA Real Estate Principles class at CU the past several years, so he has seen firsthand the impact that CUREC has had on hundreds of CU students and alumni,” said Julie Gibson, executive director of CUREC. “He is enormously respected by the real estate industry, and we are thrilled to welcome him as the new IAB chair.”

Woolf, who is co-founder and director of commercial investments for Conscience Bay Company, a private equity firm focused on real estate assets in and around Colorado, was part of the CUREC alumni board for 15 years. He joined CUREC's advisory board in 2023. He has also worked for the CU Real Estate Foundation in a project manager (asset manager/portfolio manager) role and was president of the Leeds MBA alumni board in 2018-19.

Off

CUREC’s new leader plans to partner with industry to provide top-notch experiences for students.

Following a comprehensive national search, the Leeds School of Business is pleased to announce the CU Real Estate Center’s next Sherman R. Miller Executive Director, Julie Gibson. She will join CUREC and the Leeds community in January 2024.

Gibson, who holds a degree in business administration from Pepperdine University and an MBA from Portland State, has served as director of the Portland State University Center of Real Estate for nearly two decades. She brings a wealth of experience leading a real estate center at the intersection of faculty, students, community partners, industry leaders and employers. Prior to her work in higher education, Gibson served as vice president for underwriting at PNC bank.

Julie Gibson, the CU Real Estate Center’s next Sherman R. Miller Executive Director

Vijay Khatri, dean of the Leeds School of Business, praised the extensive work of CUREC’s International Advisory Board (IAB) in conducting the robust search that ultimately identified Gibson as the right leader to take real estate education and student experience to the next level.

“In meeting with Julie, I was struck by her deep experience in real estate education and passion for the next generation of industry leaders,” said Khatri. “Our Centers of Excellence and the CU Real Estate Center are vital to a positive student experience at Leeds, and I am hopeful that under Julie’s leadership, CUREC will continue to contribute to our excellence in student-centered education, research impact and external community engagement.”

Gibson notes that industry partnerships are key to the center’s work to create awareness, education and pathways for students to land in commercial real estate careers. She plans to work collaboratively to build an even stronger real estate student experience at Leeds.

“As I look ahead to joining the CU Boulder team, I see an opportunity to leverage the strong industry and alumni partnerships already in place and grow opportunities for students to deepen their knowledge and connections in commercial real estate,” said Gibson. “With top real estate faculty and an outstanding international advisory board of leaders from a variety of commercial real estate sectors, CUREC is positioned well to become a nationally recognized program.”

Want to upskill in real estate?

If you aspire to build a skill set in commercial real estate and also gain access to a built-in network of peers and instructors, the Executive Education Commercial Real Estate Certificate offers flexible courses that can be taken independently or combined to earn a certificate and continuing education credits.

Leeds School of Business is a leader in providing robust real estate education to all levels of students—from undergraduates to professionals, who can choose from the MS in Real Estate, MBA coursework, and Executive Education programs.

In his nine years, Michael Kercheval helped connect academics to industry

Kercheval predicts an exciting evolution of the industry ahead and great opportunities for Leeds graduates.

Strong relationships and collaborations underpin the real estate industry. Michael Kercheval, with a successful 20-year career in global real estate, understands that better than most.

In June 2023, he retired from the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, where he served as the Sherman R. Miller Executive Director of the CU Real Estate Center (CUREC) for seven years.

One of his most valuable contributions was strengthening the ties between Leeds and industry. Connecting students with real estate professionals, he developed co-curricular programming including networking, mentoring and career treks to industry partners.

CUREC is one of the six Centers of Excellence at Leeds and a popular destination for students pursuing an undergraduate area of emphasis (major), an MBA pathway or a master’s degree in real estate.

Kercheval’s legacy

His impact on Leeds has been vast and meaningful.

The real estate industry has always been dynamic, but it changed dramatically during the pandemic. Kercheval helped CUREC’s programs remain agile as a new real estate landscape emerged.

He also helped raise awareness of real estate technology at a time when the idea of AI and other technologies were not yet widely recognized as key parts of real estate’s future. In 2020, the CU Real Estate Forum featured an insider’s look into the rapidly growing PropTech sector and disruption of the iBuying revolution.

Notably, he used his international business acumen to create the center’s world-class International Advisory Board, which gave Leeds graduates access to emerging opportunities globally, as well as generated a significant new source of funding for the center’s activities.

I have learned that real estate has the unique ability to positively impact and improve the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet.

Michael Kercheval

Under Kercheval’s leadership, the center continued providing opportunities to diverse students. CUREC created, funded and launched two scholarship programs for diverse undergraduates that included networking, a career trek to New York and exclusive meet-and-greets with industry executives. The center also supports the Inclusive City Builders Internship Program, through which Leeds students have pursued internships. And recently, CUREC incorporated Project REAP graduates into the real estate executive education program.

“I am extremely pleased to have been able to raise the awareness of the need to increase diversity in the real estate industry, starting with attracting under-represented students into the real estate program and then providing the mentoring, skills-training and financial assistance to help them succeed,” he says.

Doing good and doing well

Today, as he reflects on his time at Leeds, he’s excited about the future for real estate students.  

“The opportunities for CUREC at the Leeds School of Business are extraordinary, especially the opportunity to firmly link academic excellence with dynamic business-sector needs. I can clearly see the economic and social benefits of enabling top-trained talent to soar in the industry by fielding graduates into upwardly mobile global careers.”

“Real estate has the unique ability to positively impact and improve the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet,” he says. “It is a career where one can ‘do good’ in addition to ‘do well.’  Sharing that opportunity with bright future leaders I believe is the best opportunity for our collective futures.”

He sees more recognition of real estate’s contribution to society and the economy. He says real estate is our cities, towns and communities, where we live, work and play. He asserts that commercial real estate is the world’s largest investment asset, dwarfing the global pool of all stocks and bonds combined.

What comes next 

“First and foremost, I’ll be enjoying Boulder and all it has to offer,” he says. “Second, I plan to more fully engage in the many non-paying community service jobs that I believe can positively impact our community and society. I also plan to keep investing in real estate.” 

He hopes to remain an active participant with CUREC as a resource for students, and he’ll continue participating on various CU boards.

“I hope to be remembered as a creative, out-of-the-box thinker on the leading edge of merging an academic real estate program with the needs of the real estate industry globally.”

  Why Leeds     CUREC

The revamped curriculum is designed to prepare graduates for the significant changes facing the field.​

The Denver skyline at sunrise. Changes in the commercial real estate industry in Denver and beyond helped highlight some weaknesses in the real estate master’s program at Leeds, but the school and industry collaborated to completely refresh the curiculum to create better-prepared graduates. Below is Christophe Spaenjers, faculty director of the program; Carl Koelbel (MBA’10) presenting an award at the CU Real Estate Center's annual forum; and Michael Kercheval, CUREC executive director.

If you were to ask Carl Koelbel why he approached the Leeds School of Business about refreshing its master’s program in real estate, you’ll get a fairly blunt answer. 

“Enlightened self-interest,” is how he put it. 

“There were a couple of instances where I was working—either as a judge or engaging with CU students—and I did not see that level of fundamental understanding that I was looking for,” said Koelbel (MBA’10), chief operating officer of Denver-based Koelbel & Co. “And that was a major concern to us, because something like 10 percent of our workforce comes from CU Boulder.” 

But when industry talks, Leeds listens, which is why the school just unveiled a completely revamped real estate graduate program for the fall.

“We were able to have a truly candid conversation with our partners about their needs for professionals coming out of the program,” said Michael Kercheval, executive director of the CU Real Estate Center. “We want to be responsive to industry input, both because we’re asking them to hire our students and because we want to make the industry better.” 

Kercheval also noted that Leeds faculty were especially receptive to suggestions from industry partners. 

“We want to be responsive to industry input, both because we’re asking them to hire our students and because we want to make the industry better.”

Michael Kercheval, executive director of the CU Real Estate Center

“That openness to input is part of our special sauce at the CU Real Estate Center that other schools don’t have,” he said. “And that absolutely extends to the faculty teaching the real estate courses at Leeds.” 

An entirely reimagined curriculum

The enhancements to the master’s program were designed to incorporate the contemporary requirements of a real estate profession adapting to an environment where commercial real estate product supply is lagging shifting demand. The relaunched degree program includes new or substantially upgraded courses in law, modeling and analytics, along with a renewed emphasis on case studies and a special skills training course designed to ensure students have hard skills—like financial modeling and Excel. 

Christophe Spaenjers, faculty director of the master's program, said the changes draw on the strengths of Leeds' faculty, not just its ties to the industry.

“There’s a big focus on real estate research from our faculty, and we also have adjunct professors who have years—if not decades—of experience,” Spaenjers said. “That gives our program a combination of academic depth and real-world connections that is so valuable to students.”

Those areas were important to Cooper Williams (MBA’10), president and principal at Essex Financial Group.

“Coming out of the master’s program, it’s very important for students to have a good fundamental understanding of valuation and cash flow modeling,” Williams said. “I wanted CU to get back to having more real-time cases, doing case competitions, getting that real-world practice in modeling, and understanding both capital and risk.” For Koelbel, the skills are crucial, but so is the fundamental knowledge and high-level perspective needed to understand how the different disciplines and players within the industry work together to get projects and deals done. 

“We need our new hires to have a close understanding of how all the players work together—the developer, the banks, legal, and of course the tenant or homebuyer—so that as environmental conditions change, they’re able to anticipate how that will impact different stakeholders and react accordingly,” Koelbel said. “That means they can find or structure a deal no matter what larger trends are shaping the markets.” 

Spaenjers is confident the program meets those demands. 

“The updates give this program a blend of that knowledge base—the sort of industry vocabulary they need—with exposure to specific software and databases, like ARGUS and CoStar. That ensures they’re ready to create impact from the start,” he said.

Top-quality students

One thing both executives want to see unchanged is the quality of students admitted to the program. 

“The character of student coming out of the master’s program is as high as I’ve ever seen it,” Williams said. “The recruiting of the student base has been fantastic, and I think that’s a credit to CUREC’s leadership and history of engagement with the real estate community.” 

Unique to Leeds is the incorporation of societal challenges, such as sustainability, into the fabric of each course—crucial as the industry faces pressure on areas like climate change.

“For example, in my real estate finance course, I have a guest lecture by one of our faculty here, who shares research on how climate change effects house prices,” Spaenjers said. “Rather than packaging this in a separate course, we also try to bring those issues into our core materials.”

The master’s program isn’t the only real estate offering at Leeds. The school also offers an MBA with a real estate pathway, which offers a broader business and management degree that includes special courses and co-curricular experiences for students looking to take leadership roles in the industry. At the undergraduate level, Leeds offers an area of emphasis in real estate that prepares students for roles in development, brokering, investing, law and consulting, among others. 

The refreshed approach to the master’s program puts it firmly on par with these other offerings—and, Kercheval said, the updates aren’t done yet. 

“Now that we have this solid curriculum, we want to look at how the program is delivered,” he said. “Is there a way to create a part-time option, or a hybrid version of the program? We’ve addressed a pressing need in very short order—but it’s not a one and done. We’ll be continuing to innovate.” 

Prospective students are encouaged to visit the program website to learn more, or contact the Leeds graduate programs team at leedsgrad@colorado.edu or (303) 492-8397.

  Why Leeds     CU Real Estate Center     M.S. Real Estate

Leeds held a ceremony for the nearly 20 professionals who completed a three-course certificate in commercial real estate. From left are Maureen Espinoza, Christine Fitch and Jill Mendoza, who each completed the program. Below, Mendoza speaks with Michael Kercheval, left, and Madison Gross, right, of the CU Real Estate Center.

Christine Fitch is an attorney who spends most of her time sorting out planning and zoning issues in Colorado’s Adams County. An expert who graduated from the University of Colorado Law School in 2016, Fitch knows local government issues inside out, but said she didn’t fully understand the process commercial developers go through when they bring new projects to her desk. 

“I tend to see the beginning of projects, when developers are looking for approvals, but I thought it would be good to get a fuller perspective on what goes into a completed project,” she said. 

That led her to the commercial real estate executive certificate at the Leeds School of Business. This three-course certificate covers industry fundamentals, law and finance, making it ideal for as well as seasoned professionals looking to update their skills in a time of great change in the industry. 

The programs also can be taken individually, a useful feature for professionals already in this space who are looking to upskill or are seeking to maintain professional certification. 

This spring, 19 students completed all three foundational real estate courses, earning executive certificates in commercial real estate. It’s the first time the courses have been offered; students like Fitch who part of the inaugural group that completed the certificates were invited to a reception at Leeds, where they met faculty and peers face to face after completing the virtual classes. 

Maureen Espinoza, another student who attended, said the national network she was able to build gave her perspective on challenges professionals faced in other major U.S. markets. 

“The breakout rooms gave us opportunities to meet people from different parts of the country, but also different sectors in real estate—developers, brokers, attorneys, people in local government,” said Espinoza, a dual licensed attorney and commercial broker with The Colorado Group. “I didn’t expect such good opportunities to connect with people in a virtual program.” 

Even though she’s an attorney who also graduated from CU Law, Espinoza said the module on real estate law was a useful update, since she completed her JD in 2004. 

“I was so impressed with what the faculty were able to deliver, content wise,” she said. “You got what felt like a whole semester in one evening.” 

Fitch also called the faculty impressive.

“They brought in some very interesting speakers who shared some amazing projects they’d worked on in Colorado and elsewhere,” she said. 

The finance module, she said, was especially helpful to her. 

“The courses really helped me see the process more clearly, especially in terms of financing projects,” Fitch said. “I think the experience has made it easier for me to see how that process works on the other side, and potentially be more of a resource to help get projects accomplished.” 

When experts describe a “soft” real estate market coming out of the pandemic, does that mean it’s a bad time to enter this field? 

Turns out, that’s a loaded question. The real estate “market” is composed of so many sectors—residential, retail, , industrial—that sweeping statements about the industry’s health tend to miss the mark. So while office markets from Denver to D.C. are soft, as workers embrace hybrid and remote work, warehouse and distribution have been the opposite, as companies seek to shorten supply chain by ramping up storage locally.

“It's always a good time to jump into the real estate game,” said Joel Starbuck, a real estate expert and instructor who teaches a course in the fundamentals of real estate at the Leeds School of Business. “Commercial real estate in Colorado, especially along the Front Range, is still a hot market.”

Starbuck offered some tips for professionals looking to add real estate skills and credentials to their résumés.

You can start with a side hustle. One of the appealing aspects of real estate is that it does not have to be your primary career or income source. Many investors get in the game by starting small and growing into it, which can remove a considerable amount of risk. If you decide to level up and make this a career, the industry is always in hiring mode.

You can challenge yourself to grow—professionally and personally.  can be intimidating, but there are many resources to help. The CU Real Estate Center programs offer students many opportunities to meet industry professionals, network and refresh skills. Taking advantage of resources and networking opportunities can help ease uncertainty and fears that newcomers might have.

You can learn a little about many things to find your passion area. Starbuck’s greatest joy comes from seeing students get excited about an industry or a required course that they thought was going to be ho-hum.

“One of the reasons I enjoy teaching the fundamentals of commercial real estate at Leeds is that we cover a myriad of topics throughout the semester: law, economics, financial analysis, brokerage and affordable housing, to name a few,” he said. “Every day we cover something completely new and interesting.”

It’s yet another reminder that —analysis, appraisal, development, sales, underwriting, law and more—which makes it especially well suited to professionals uncertain about their next moves.

Ready to build your skills across the real estate landscape? The gives you a convenient and accessible way to invest in your professional future. The fully online program offers a three-course module designed to broaden commercial real estate knowledge through real-world context and counts toward continuing education credits for real estate professionals.

CUREC’s annual showcase event attracts top industry players to discuss pandemic recovery, new projects and policy challenges.​

Sarah Wiebenson, center, director of economic development for the Downtown Denver Partnership, speaks during a panel discussion on opportunities for the industry as it shifts out of the pandemic. She is working with partners across the city ‘to reimagine downtown Denver, and to see this as an opportunity to not just build back, but build back better.’ Below, a group of professionals listens to a discussion on policy trends coming out of Washington.

If the first three rules of real estate are location, location, location, it’s telling that for the first time, the CU Real Estate Center moved its annual forum from the skyscrapers of Denver to the foothills of Boulder. 

It also signifies just how strong the ties between the Leeds School of Business and the real estate community have become. A full-capacity crowd of more than 260 attendees registered for the daylong event at Folsom Field, including 61 industry representatives who participated in a recruiting fair.

“I think bringing this event to Boulder, back to the university, is a fitting way to connect this event back to what’s happening here, and to the impact the CU Real Estate Center has created in the community,” said Bradley Segall, business development manager for Denison Parking and chair of the forum committee, in his opening remarks. “And it’s fantastic to see so many students joining us today, as well.” 

And like the collaboration between CUREC and the real estate industry, a major message of the forum was how to identify partners and work together in helping Colorado rebound from the pandemic. 

‘Pedestrian life is disintegrating’

A fireside chat between Michael P. Kercheval, CUREC executive director, and Daniel McCaffery, chairman and CEO of McCaffery Interests, looked at the challenges of bringing people back to cities like Denver. 

On a typical night in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood, “you can count the number of people walking by on one hand, maybe two,” McCaffery said. “Pedestrian life is disintegrating. We have to magnetize the streets once more.” 

A big catalyst for bringing people back, he said, is small retailers. Most developments now have residential down to street level. Compared to bustling cities in Europe, with “smaller, but more energetic, stores that invite movement from place to place,” American cities are offering fewer places to gather. 

As to the office sector, McCaffery said, the outlook remains uncertain. 

“We need peoples’ mindset to back to where it was, but I’m not sure how we turn that corner.”

Daniel McCaffery, chairman and CEO, McCaffery Interests

“Our home building in Chicago is 90 percent leased,” he said. “But the next time I see someone in the men’s room, I may pull out my phone and call you. I’m not looking forward to the day some of our big tenants’ leases are up for renewal.

“Something has to happen—we need peoples’ mindset to back to where it was, but I’m not sure how we turn that corner.” 

For some neighborhoods, coming back has been far less of a challenge. Jamie Gard, an executive managing director at Newmark, said the Cherry Creek neighborhood “is boring. But that’s what’s fantastic about it.” 

Another session, spotlighting different projects in Denver and on the Front Range, was an opportunity for developers and others to talk about the trends they’d observed since the outbreak. 

Sarah Wiebenson, director of economic development for the Downtown Denver Partnership, started her role during the recovery period from the pandemic. The solution to the challenges of revival, she said, is in fostering partnerships “to reimagine downtown Denver, and to see this as an opportunity to not just build back, but build back better.”

“Many high-quality companies have said, ‘We think we can get people to come back to work in Cherry Creek first,’ and to some degree, they never left,” said Gard, who pointed to occupancy rates of 90 percent before and after the pandemic. “That doesn’t exist maybe anywhere else in the country. It is truly an amazing market.” 

Focus on finance, banking

Looming large over the event was the collapse of Silicon Valley and Signature banks and Credit Suisse’s stock price slide, which happened in real time during Wednesday’s event. Sessions on Colorado’s economic outlook, the legislative climate in Washington and the pandemic rebound focused on the challenges the real estate industry faces amid disruption in the banking sector. 

“The volatility of this financial crisis has happened before,” he said. “Developers rallied around a master plan” for the Union Station neighborhood, he said, as “they saw the value of being in a master plan and felt safe there.”

“For the students here, I would encourage you to look at this holistically,” said Sarah Cullen, founder and president of SideCar Public Relations, who spoke about news and trends coming out of Washington with Chip Rodgers, senior vice president of the nonprofit Real Estate Roundtable. “Based on what we saw this weekend—what does this mean, for example, for our regional banks that support so much of our commercial development? How are these things starting to connect—banking, policy, the demands from the past couple years from the pandemic?”

The policy session looked at the challenges the industry faces in a sharply divided Washington, with very different ideas of how to deal with issues like affordable housing, 

Richard Wobbekind, associate dean for business and government relations and senior economist at Leeds, offered a forecast that he called “not completely negative; we’re actually feeling pretty positive.” 

“We are seeing a lot of good things, especially related to employment and GDP,” Wobbekind said, noting that Colorado is top-two in the country for both personal income and per capital income growth.

  Why Leeds     CU Real Estate Center     M.S. Real Estate

Let’s take a look at investing in your hottest property: you. 

No matter your expertise or role in the real estate world, you’ll always benefit from being able to understand the different processes, people and actions that close deals and move markets. The more you know about the fundamentals of real estate, the more you can make valuable contributions to your team and market your own skills.

Maybe you’ve got a toe in the industry already, like a commercial real estate law paralegal who wants to know more about the financial side of things, or a broker interested in real estate law. Or you might be in a role where mastery of the fundamentals can help you advance your career. Whatever your knowledge and aspirations, there’s real value in knowing universal industry terms and understanding the landscape. And there’s always real value in .

We recently spoke to a municipal economic development professional about why he chose to invest in a commercial real estate course with Leeds School of Business.

Building up his toolkit

Daniel Ryley is a small-business owner and executive director at the Arvada Economic Development Authority. As an economic development expert, he saw the value in adding stronger real estate fundamentals to his professional toolkit.

Ryley’s role supports commercial development and business health and growth, and much of that hinges on real estate and regulation—for example, how a developer might interact with a local government to get permits. He didn’t have a strong commercial real estate financial or legal background, and saw the Leeds program as a way to better understand the more technical sides of the real estate world—especially dealmaking, finance and law.

Benefits and new perspectives

“This program gives students a real-life, real-world, real-time understanding of how real estate actually is a business,” he said.

Especially insightful, he said, was learning how all the players behave across a real estate transaction, to see what drives and motivates their behavior and understand how to solve the puzzle of turning a profit from an investment ownership/development standpoint—as opposed to just earning a commission. 

What brought Ryley to Leeds was the credibility of a program associated with a leading university, as well as a unique way to provide professional development opportunities for his team. While he maintains , most opportunities geared toward economic development professionals are very industry specific, and don’t offer a broad look at all the different aspects of commercial real estate.  

“It was pretty easy for me to look at this opportunity with Leeds and say, ‘I’d rather invest in this course than another economic development conference,’” said Ryley, who completed the program with two teammates.

This is an exciting time for executive education. Offerings are increasingly built to cater to today’s student needs. Forbes recently published a look at how to . At Leeds, our thought leaders and industry experts can help you improve your understanding of real estate basics to better prepare you for success at your current job and in your career. Our fully online commercial real estate certificate program offers three modules that represent a convenient, accessible and applicable way to invest in your professional future.