MREA Upcoming Site Visit Luncheon with Trammell Crow Company

MREA is pleased to present this great opportunity for students of The Paul Merage School of Business to join in a special luncheon and site visit with Trammell Crow Company.  Trammell Crow is one of the most prestigious real estate companies in the world and we are pleased to have the opportunity to meet senior management and learn more about the company.

The event will be hosted at Trammell Crow's Newport Beach office on Friday, March 8th, 2013 at 11:30 AM.  We will hear from some of the senior managers at Trammell Crow and learn more about their current strategy in the real estate market.

If you are interested in attending this event.  Please contact us at meragerealestate@gmail.com.

MREA Visits Pacifica Hotel Company Property Developments

The Merage Real Estate Association (MREA) had the great opportunity of touring three development hospitality properties owned by Pacifica Hotel Company, based out of Santa Barbara, California.

Matt Marquis, President of Pacifica Hotel Company, met UCI students at the properties to discuss the different phases of development of the three properties and certain objectives they have with the properties.

The three subject hotels were The Marina Del Rey Hotel, The Hilton Garden Inn Marina Del Rey, and Jamaica Bay Hotel.  All three are in different phases of development.

The students able to attend felt that this was a great opportunity to see first hand, major development projects and to see the process from pre-development to a finished new product.  A fantastic lunch was served at Beachside Restaurant, which is located in the Jamaica Bay hotel.

"The Case" MIT Center for Real Estate Alumni Association

The Center for Real Estate sponsored a team of MBA students at the annual MIT Real Estate Case Competition.  The team included: Justin Komppa, Marle Chen, Jim Bruce and Kelly Blaes.  The competition included the following:

Your mission: to secure funding for your plan to develop a urban mixed-use development, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. That is the premise of "The CASE," the annual real estate competition held by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The UC Irvine-Merage School of Business, Center for Real Estate, sponsored a team this year to compete in the first round from January 29 to February 2. The team worked the entire weekend, forgoing the Super Bowl, to deliver their business proposal by 9 PM, Sunday night. First round winners will find out they are selected March 8th, and will then compete in semi-finals in Boston. No matter what the outcome, it was an incredible learning experience about how development plans are crafted and funded.

Upcoming MREA Site Visit with Pacifica Hotel Company

Students at UCI's Paul Merage School of Business have been invited to visit three water front hotel properties in Marina Del Rey owned and operated by Pacifica Hotel Company, a hotel company based out of Santa Barbara, Ca.  Each of the properties are in different stages of re-development and are waterfront to the Marina.

Students will have the opportunity to learn of the development process and the requirements issued by Marinas and Harbors to make the hotels possible as well as see renderings of what the final development will look like.  Additionally, they will also be touring a hotel which just underwent a large redevelopment.

The site visit will take place on Friday, February 15th.  If you are interested in joining the site visit, Please contact Chad Pitt at pittc@uci.edu to reserve a spot.  Below is a flyer with all the info!

The Merage Real Estate Association

Jacques Gordon - Global Investment Strategist

Jacques N. Gordon

Global Strategist, LaSalle Investment Management

Professor Kerry Vandell invites you to his International Real Estate Investment Class to hear Jacques Gordon, Global Investment Strategist, LaSalle Investment Management – Chicago, on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. 

Jacques will be speaking as a Center for Real Estate Distinguished Lecturer on “A PERSPECTIVE ON GLOBAL REAL ESTATE ISSUES: CONDITIONS, TRENDS, OPPORTUNITES AND CHALLENGES.” (See Jacques’ bio below)

We have the opportunity to accommodate a few members and friends to “sit-in” on this special guest lectured class which will take place in Room SB112 in the Paul Merage School of Business at 7:00 p.m. The MBA students in attendance would welcome your participation and exchange on this topic.

 
Should you be interested in attending, please RSVP to Jeani Pirooz at dpirooz@uci.edu or (949) 824-1472

BIO:
Jacques Gordon is the Global Strategist for LaSalle Investment Management, a global real estate money manager with $47 billion in assets under management. He serves on the Management and Investment Committees of the firm and directs the 30-person investment strategy group, which analyzes capital markets, regional economies and property markets in thirty-five countries. He also chairs the Global Research Board of LaSalle's parent company, Jones Lang LaSalle, which guides the efforts of the firm's 300 market analysts around the world.

Gordon is the managing editor of LaSalle's Investment Strategy Annual and his published articles have appeared in many top journals. He is quoted regularly in the financial press. He received the "Graaskamp Award" from the Pension Real Estate Association for his contributions to real estate research and education. Jacques received his PhD from MIT, a Masters from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining LaSalle in 1994, he was Director of Research at Baring Advisors, the asset management subsidiary of Barings PLC in New York and London. He also taught portfolio management at NYU and worked as a Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Washington DC.  

UCI Real Estate Happy Hour

Come out Tuesday night to Steelhead Brewery for the UCI Real Estate Happy Hour

4175 Campus Drive, Irvine, CA 92612

5 - 7pm 

Great opportunity to network with members of the Advisory Board, 

Faculty, Alumni and Current Students!

No Host Bar

FREE ADMISSION | RSVP to cre2@merage.uci.edu

Merage Students Visit Essex Skyline Property in Santa Ana

MREA members were privileged to have the opportunity of visiting one of the premiere properties in all of Orange County.  Skyline apartments, which was recently purchased by Essex, features high end apartments and penthouses in two luxury 25 floor towers.

Students from The Paul Merage School of Business spent two hours touring the property and getting full access to the amenities that are offered to residents, including men/women's spa rooms, state of the art fitness center, and pool patio area.  Students were given the recent history of the development project and the process in which the property was able to be purchased by Essex.

Some highlights from the tour was seeing the residents wine cellar, rooftop views, and modernized furnished apartments.