Winter Newsletter 2020
The Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center would like to thank our Research Sponsors and Primary Sustaining Members whose generous contributions have made this year’s programming possible. As we say goodbye to 2019 we take a moment to reflect on some from the highlights of the past year:
Department News + Research · Faculty & Staffing Changes · Members’ Meetings 2019 · Global Programming · Research Sponsor Events · Student Activities · Other Events in 2019 · Upcoming Events · Current Members
Department News & Research
Below are highlights from the Wharton Real Estate faculty.
Gilles Duranton
Dean’s Chair in Real Estate Professor
- Professor Duranton co-wrote a paper on delineating urban areas using building density.
- Professor Duranton was featured in numerous publications including The Economist and Poets & Quants.
- Professor Duranton participated in a panel with Larry Summers at the Boston Fed.
- Professor Duranton presented at conferences in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Mexico, and France. He also presented at the NBER Summer Institute.
- Professor Duranton organized a conference in Guangzhou with the Asian Development Bank and Jinan University.
Joe Gyourko
Martin Bucksbaum Professor, Professor of Real Estate, Professor of Finance, Professor of Business Economics & Public Policy; Nancy A. Nasher and David Haemisegger Director of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center
- Professor Gyourko co-authored a working paper on the local residential land use regulatory environment across U.S. housing markets for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
- Professor Gyourko's working paper was mentioned and cited in numerous blogs and articles; including WSJ, City Journal, and Route Fifty.
- Professor Gyourko was quoted in the New York Times.
- Professor Gyourko remains a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Benjamin Keys
Rowan Family Foundation Associate Professor; Associate Professor of Real Estate
- Professor Keys was promoted to Associate Professor of Real Estate, named Rowan Family Foundation Associate Professor by Wharton and appointed to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Housing Economics.
- Professor Keys co-authored a working paper on affordability, financial innovation, and the start of the housing boom; as well as a paper on minimum payments and debt paydown in consumer credit cards, which was published by the Journal of Financial Economics.
- Professor Keys was quoted in numerous publications including Business Insider, Housing Wire, and the Philadelphia Magazine.
- Professor Keys won a Wharton Teaching Excellence Award.
- Professor Keys presented at Penn State, the Federal Reserve Board, Dartmouth, Northwestern-Kellogg, the Urban Institute, the Imperial College London, the Bank of England, the Urban Economics Association, and USC.
Maisy Wong
James T. Riady Associate Professor; Associate Professor of Real Estate; Assistant Director, Grayken International Real Estate Program at the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center
- Professor Wong wrote a paper on competition in the real estate brokerage industry and a paper on how intergroup contact can foster nation building; which was published in the American Economic Review.
- Professor Wong won a Wharton Teaching Excellence Award.
- Professor Wong presented in seminars at the University of Chicago, McGill University, and at the Urban Economic Association Annual Conference in Philadelphia.
View a full list of Wharton Real Estate faculty working papers.
Faculty & Staffing Changes
Asuka Nakahara
In the fall Asuka Nakahara was appointed Practice Professor of Real Estate, recognizing his decades of contributions to Wharton.
Todd Sinai
On July 1, 2019, Todd Sinai became the Chair of the Real Estate Department.Members’ Meetings in 2019
Twice a year, Zell/Lurie hosts Members’ Meetings where our members and their guests gather to enjoy talks by industry leaders and network. Highlights from the Spring and Fall 2019 Members’ Meetings can be found below.
Spring Members’ Meeting
May 1, 2019 – May 2, 2019
Fall Members’ Meeting
October 24, 2019 – October 25, 2019
Global Programming
In May 2019, Zell/Lurie held its sixth annual Grayken Program in International Real Estate at the Royal Automobile Club in London. The program focused on long-term strategic and structural issues facing the real estate industry. Keynote speakers included Nick Leslau, Chairman, Prestbury, and Martin Wolf, Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times.
In September 2019, Zell/Lurie held its second annual Grayken Program in International Real Estate at The China Club in Hong Kong. The program focused on real estate investment opportunities and risks across Asia. Keynote speakers included Ronnie Chan, Chairman, Hang Lung Properties Limited, and John Grayken, Chairman, Lone Star Funds.
We are delighted to announce next year’s third annual Grayken Program in International Real Estate Asia event will take place in Singapore.
Research Sponsor Dinner
Being a Research Sponsor of Zell/Lurie has many benefits, including access to private networking events.
On March 12, 2019, Research Sponsors and special guests dined at Le Bernardin in New York City. Over dinner Ron Kravit, Consultant for Tracker Capital Management, LLC led a conversation with Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Warby Parker and Julie Samuels, Executive Director of TECH: NYC.
On November 19, 2019, Research Sponsors and special guests again enjoyed dinner at Le Bernardin in New York City. The evening featured a talk by Jeff Shell, Chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment.
The next Research Sponsor Dinner is scheduled for March 31, 2020, and will take place at Eleven Madison Park in New York City. David O’Connor, Senior Managing Director at High Rise Capital Partners, LLC will facilitate a conversation with Hamid Moghadam, Chairman and CEO at Prologis.
Student Activities
Zell/Lurie funds and assists five University of Pennsylvania Real Estate Clubs. In 2019, the Real Estate Clubs kept with case competitions, domestic and international treks, campus events, and more:
The Ballard Executive Speaker Program Zell/Lurie’s Ballard Executive Speaker program remains extremely popular among our students. In 2019, 16 Research Sponsors visited campus as Ballard Executives. These informal lunches are of tremendous value to our students, as indicated by their attendance and active participation. The Ballard Executive Speakers of 2019 were:
| January 23, 2019 | Marty Burger | Silverstein Properties |
| January 30, 2019 | David Adelman | Campus Apartments |
| February 7, 2019 | Eric Schlager | Bulfinch Companies |
| February 12, 2019 | Ephram Lustgarten | Global Holdings |
| February 19, 2019 | Matthew Kaplan | Almanac Realty Investors |
| February 21, 2019 | David Helfand | Equity Commonwealth |
| February 28, 2019 | Neil Rubler | Candlebrook Properties |
| March 12, 2019 | Bruce Gamble | Navigant Consulting |
| March 19, 2019 | Anthony Dona | Thackeray Partners |
| March 28, 2019 | Alan Feldman | Resource Real Estate Inc. |
| September 24, 2019 | Matthew Lustig | Lazard |
| October 3, 2019 | Edward Baquero | Corigin Development |
| November 7, 2019 | Robert Lieber | C-III Capital Partners |
| November 12, 2018 | Ian Marcus | Eastdil Secured |
| November 21, 2019 | Ed Siskind | Cale Street Partners |
| December 4, 2019 | Saul Goldstein | ActivumSG Capital Management |
ARGUS Training
Zell/Lurie funded an ARGUS training on November 16 & 17, 2019. This year’s two-day training was based on both student and member feedback on the importance of ARGUS experience for students entering the real estate industry. This was the third consecutive year Zell/Lurie funded an on-campus Argus training and attendance was at an all-time high. Participating students also received a 30-day license to ARGUS Enterprise/OnDemand.
Mentor and Mentee Program 2019
This year, Zell/Lurie matched 134 students to 98 volunteer career mentors. The Career Mentor Program remains popular among students, with participants from all five of the Zell/Lurie supported real estate clubs. Many mentors and mentees had the opportunity to meet in person at the Zell/Lurie Fall Members’ Meeting (pictured below).
Highlights from the MBA Real Estate Club
Pictured from left to right: Neil Wali, Orlando Gutierrez, Erik Lorig, Danting Hu, Chris Fallone, Liya Mo, Oana Sirbu, Sara Horiuchi, Marek Malik, Gray Cherry, James Kwon, Daniel Jones, and Rich Morrison tour The Grove in Los Angeles, California.
The Wharton MBA Real Estate Club made numerous treks this year traveling to New York City, the Hudson Valley, and California. During their trek to the Hudson River Valley the club explored adaptive reuse projects. In California (pictured above) the group met with over 10 different companies and toured a number of new development projects.
Highlights from the Undergraduate Real Estate Club
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Pictured from left to right: Joshua Cheadle, Bar Castro Han, Juan Pablo Cardenas, Iman Tajadod, Ryan Finvarb, Kaitlin Young, Elizabeth (Friedland) Meyer, Larry Friedland, Henry Shapiro, Jack Goldman, Riley Rickfelder, Gerald Rehill, Morris Ades, Jason Xu, Jacob Shalam, and Eddie Sutton visit one of Mr. Friedland’s properties.
The Wharton Undergraduate Real Estate Club also organized a variety of treks and events for their members. In October the group traveled to NYC to partake in small-group conversations with industry leaders. The club met with Eliot Spitzer, former governor of New York and now head of Spitzer Enterprises; Tony Mannarino, Executive Vice President at Extell Development; Young Woo, Founder and Principal at Youngwoo & Associates; and Larry Friedland, Principal at Friedland Properties (pictured above with his daughter Elizabeth Meyer).
Highlights from the Weitzman School of Design Real Estate Club
Pictured from left to right: Yannan Cai, Kelsey Edelen, Hanyong Xu, Jingzong Wang, Hongyu Lin, Liyu Chen, Ji Qi, Haida Xu, Zoe Covello and Jarrodd Davis tour Philadelphia’s Navy Yard.
The Weitzman School of Design Real Estate Club hosted a number of events this past year including internship panels, case competition mixers, and career development lunches. In October club members toured the Philadelphia Navy Yard – a redeveloped 1,200-acre site which now hosts an expanding community of nearly 15,000 employees and 170 employers who occupy a mix of property types, including office, retail, industrial, R&D, and institutional (pictured above). The Urban Land Institute has recognized the community as a leading model for repurposing military and industrial assets for a diversified modern economy.
Highlights from the Penn Student Women in Real Estate
Pictured from left to right: Grant Carlson, Brian Rawn, Danting Hu, Athena Xie, Elana Fortson, Sara Horiuchi, Talisha Rice, Andrew Karas, Maggie Mulhern, Chloe Ruan, Anjum Sharma (WG ’13, Brookfield Properties), John Ellwanger and Katherine Salvatori pose together after the disruptions and trends panel.
PSWiRE were busy in 2019 hosting a variety of events. In December PSWiRE held a panel on disruptions and trends in real estate featuring Anjum Sharma, Senior Vice President at Brookfield Properties; Janice Wong, Vice President at Gattuso Development Partners and moderated by Associate Professor of Real Estate Ben Keys. Following the panel PSWiRE hosted a happy hour at City Tap attended by members from all five of the Zell/Lurie supported real estate clubs.
Other Events
The Eric and Beth Schlager Lecture on Entrepreneurship Series
Matthew J. Lustig, Chairman of Investment Banking, North America and Head of Real Estate & Lodging at Lazard, spoke with students on campus on February 27, 2019.
Annual Alumni Breakfast 2020
On January 24, 2020, alumni gathered to network prior to the Career Fair in Houston Hall.
Our Annual Career Fair
This year, 88 companies attended Zell/Lurie’s 19th Annual Career Fair held on January 24, 2020. The career fair was well attended by Penn/Wharton students looking for opportunities in real estate.
The Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center gratefully acknowledges the Jeff T. Blau Endowment for Student Placement, which helps make this event possible.
Upcoming Events in 2019
- Annual Eric and Beth Schlager Lecture on Entrepreneurship with Ron Kravit · March 18, 2020
- Research Sponsor Dinner · Eleven Madison Park · March 31, 2020
- Spring Members’ Meeting · The Rittenhouse Hotel · April 29 – 30, 2020
- 6th Annual Grayken Program London Meeting · The Royal Automobile Club · May 20, 2020
Current Members
Below are the lists of Research Sponsors, Primary Sustaining Members, Associate Members and New Members of 2019.
Previous Winter Newsletters
Click here to see the Winter 2019 Newsletter. Click here to see the Winter 2018 Newsletter.
Interested in becoming a member? Take a look at our Membership Page for more information.