• Joseph Ritchie, MBA '99, chief executive of Brick City Development, was instrumental in arranging some state-funded subsidies to enable Standard Chartered, the international bank with 60,000 employees around the world, to establish an office in Newark, N.J. Officials have signed a 10-year lease to bring about 300 employees from Standard's Manhattan location to Newark's Gateway 2 building. Standard chose Newark over competitive bids in Princeton, Jersey City, White Plains and Utica, underscoring Newark's efforts to market itself as an international city. After many visits to Newark, Ritchie said, Standard officials liked the city's proximity to air and train travel, as well as the city's emerging downtown attractions. Brick City was formed by Newark mayor Cory Booker to help attract and retain business in Newark and spur real estate development.
  
  
• Allison P. Wilson, MBA 2002, has joined BremnerDuke in Philadelphia as vice president, East Region of BremnerDuke Healthcare, East Region/Development. There, she will coordinate activities of project development, and negotiate with representatives of real estate, private enterprise, construction, governmental or regulatory organizations, and community leaders to acquire and develop land to develop medical use facilities. She will be the central point of communication for project relative to proposal, budget, schedule, and leasing matters. Previously, Allison was vice president of Anchor Health Properties, responsible for all phases of development on projects up to 70,000 sq. ft.
  
  
• Ron She, MBA 2001, is a vice president and senior analyst covering the Asia Pacific area for Duff & Phelps Investment Management in Chicago. You may contact him at rongchangshe@yahoo.com.
  
  
• Dean Chen, MBA '07, has settled settled in the Washington D.C. area (Vienna, Va.), working at The JBG Companies, a real estate firm in Chevy Chase, Md., focusing on acquisitions of commercial properties. Email him at netwire88@gmail.com
  
  
• Jefferson Lilly, BS '98 , has recently acquired an 88-space mobile home park in Oklahoma and is raising a fund to acquire similar properties. He is interested in hearing from any alumni with experience or interest in mobile home park investing. Contact him at jefferson_lilly@yahoo.com
  
  
• Brian D. Nichols, MBA '04, has joined the Commercial Real Estate Group at Centerline Capital Group in New York as an assistant vice president, responsible for sourcing real estate financing and investment opportunities nationwide. Email him at bnichols@centerline.com
  
  
• Barron Channer, MBA '04, was recently promoted to vice president of development with The Peebles Corporation. As the firm continues to grow, Barron has assumed responsibility for development activities in the Eastern United States and Caribbean.
  
  
• Josh Lavrinc, Law '02, has recently accepted a position as general counsel and vice president of Landmark Healthcare Facilities LLC, a medical office building developer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisc. "I am excited about joining the leadership of this growing, entrepreneurial business," writes Josh, "and for the opportunity to merge my legal and business training. I thought I would take a minute to thank you for your friendship and support in the past, and encourage you to contact me in the future." His new contact information is: Joshua J. Lavrinc, General Counsel and Vice President, Landmark Healthcare Facilities LLC, 839 North Jefferson Street, Suite 200, Milwaukee, WI 53202; (414) 277.0500; cell: (414) 617.6561; email: jlavrinc@lhf.biz
  

(l-r) Katie, Anna and Nate McOmber
• Nate McOmber, '07, co-president of the MBA Real Estate Club last year, and his wife, Katie, moved to Irvine, California. Nate joined the southern California office of Alliance Residential Company. As a development associate he will work on both urban and garden property deals, mainly in Los Angeles. The McOmbers are expecting their second child, a boy, in December.

• J.P. Marinelli, BS '75, has joined Citi Capital Strategies as managing director and head of the Real Estate Group. Citi Capital Strategies, an investment bank serving closely held and family owned businesses, is a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Prior to joining Citi Capital Strategies, J.P. was senior managing director of Horvath Hospitality and Leisure, where he ran the hospitality consulting, financing and advisory practice for the eastern United States. He previously led the real estate banking department of Berenson & Co., was a senior member of the real estate investment banking group and head of the Hospitality Practice for Prudential Securities, and developed the hospitality industry practice for PaineWebber's real estate investment banking group. J.P. spent a number of years in London, first managing the European Finance Desk and later the Equity Capital Markets Group for Lehman Brothers and then for Kidder Peabody/PaineWebber. Contact J.P. at 787 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019 (212) 783-2472; j.peter.marinelli@citi.com
  
  
• Matt Christensen, MBA '97, is working in sustainable investment as executive director of Eurosif, based in Paris. Eurosif is an association of leading investors that seeks to integrate sustainability issues into their investment processes. Eurosif's activities include research, EU lobbying and events centred around equities, debt, private equity and real estate. A sector report on sustainability issues affecting the real estate market will be published in July and may be found here.
  
  
• James Yoakum, a 2007 Wharton graduate with concentrations in Real Estate and Insurance and Risk Management, is starting a company to invest in vacant and deteriorated residential and retail real estate in Philadelphia. James decided to start the company based on his explorations of Philadelphia's neighborhoods where he saw a great need for redevelopment of 'problem properties' that hold back general growth in otherwise stable and desirable neighborhoods. Yoakum Property Investors, LLC has been in operation since January and has already acquired its first properties and begun value-adding rehabilitation work. After rehabilitation is completed the properties will be held as rentals and managed by the company for four to five years. The company will seek to acquire properties in traditionally-undervalued areas of the city that are poised for steady real estate value appreciation, and show improving market fundamentals. The company is currently seeking equity investors and welcomes inquiries to james.yoakum@gmail.com.
  
  

Brian D. Gumberg, Penn Urban Real Estate and Development alum '05, is now an analyst in acquisitions for Vornado Realty Trust of New York. He represented Vornado at the sixth annual Zell-Lurie Real Estate Center Career Fair on Friday, January 19. Gumberg is shown here speaking with finance major David Orowitz, WG08. Students from across the University were welcome at the event.

The Zell/Lurie Center presented its sixth annual Career Fair on Friday, January 19, attracting a record 75 companies and nearly 400 students from across the University, plus more than a few alumni. Here, Amy Costa (left), Human Resources Recruiter with Zell/Lurie Research Sponsor ASB Capital Management of Bethesda, Md., takes a moment from speaking with students, joined by Wharton Real Estate MBA '05 Latasha Edwards, an ASB Associate. Ms. Edwards is also an associate member of the Zell/Lurie Center.

• Tyler Wilkins, MBA '06, joined DTZ Rockwood, a global real estate advisor, in late 2006. Working in their Financial Services Group, he loves being back in New York City.
  
  
• Miriam Serxner MBA '04 has accepted a new position as an associate in transactions with MMA Renewable Ventures, a division of MunieMae (NYSE: MMA). Headquartered in San Francisco, MMA Renewable Ventures makes clean energy cost-competitive for commercial property owners and users. As a member of the solar team, she is working with both property owners and solar developers to structure partnerships and power purchase agreements, providing turn-key financing and predictable energy costs for end users. Miriam says the team is doing some very interesting deals. Please check out their website, and let her know if you would like to know more: Miriam.Serxner@mmarenew.com
  
  
• Michelle Cheng, MBA '04 left real estate in 2005 and started her business coaching company, Brilliance Coaching (www.brilliancecoaching.co.uk). Even though her business is not strictly real estate, Michelle appreciated the real estate professors, classmates and contacts she met, and says she cherished the lessons she learned from them and the time they spent together.
  
  
• Arash Farin, '98, will join the Los Angeles office of Lehman Brothers in early 2007, working with their Sponsors Coverage Group.
  
  
• Louis M. Joos, MBA '05, and his wife, Samantha, welcomed a daughter, Sophia, last March. They're in Jacksonville, Fla., where Louis is vice president of investments with AIMCO, a REIT based in Denver.

Read the MBA Real Estate Club Newsletter [500K PDF]. The newsletter highlights some key real estate events and MBA student-led activities, as well as articles on real estate trends.