As my time
as director of the MRED Program draws to a close, I want to thank the faculty,
staff, students, alumni, and advisory board members for their support over the
last three years. Countless individuals stepped up to assist me during my
tenure, and for that I am sincerely grateful. I hope I leave the program at
least as strong as I found it, and well positioned for growth under the
guidance of the incoming leadership team.
One of the
things I am most excited about as I take the next step in my professional
journey is continuing to watch graduates of the MRED program advance in their
careers. Many have already made great strides since completing their graduate
studies and I could not be prouder of their accomplishments to date. I have no
doubt notable achievements are yet to come.
I also look forward to collaborating with the MRED program’s faculty and staff in the future. Ms. Amy Herrick, Dr. Robert Benedict, Dr. Stephen Buckman, and all the adjunct faculty members who teach in the program have taught me a great deal about scholarly excellence. I plan to continue looking to them for guidance throughout the remainder of my academic career.
Further, I
am excited to remain in contact with the MRED program’s alumni and advisory
board members since we share a common goal of promoting excellence in real
estate education. I know I will reach out to representatives of these groups
for advice, and I hope they will do the same.
In
closing, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve as director of Clemson
University’s MRED program. I wish its stakeholders much success in all their
endeavors.
I am pleased to report that our program had another excellent year. After receiving approval from Clemson University’s Board of Trustees, we kicked off the Fall 2023 semester with a major curriculum revision designed to strengthen our core courses and accelerate our students’ time-to-degree. Full-time students can now complete their graduate studies in as little as one year and part-time students in as little as two years, all while participating in trade organization meetings, market tours and a host of other extracurricular activities. We sincerely believe the curriculum revision preserves the best aspects of our program, while making it accessible to a greater number of aspirant real estate developers.
As our program evolves, the one thing that stays the same is
the quality of our students. Beau Good, Zion Kaauwai and Jordan Smith set an
impressive example for their peers graduating in Summer 2024 by being selected
as finalists in the Colvin Case Study Competition hosted by the University of
Maryland. Arden Hamilton and Baker Reese experienced similar success by
receiving industry-sponsored scholarships to attend the SIOR World Conference
in Amelia Island, FL. These are but a few of the things our students have
achieved in the past twelve months.
Another notable change to our program came in the form of the Clemson University Real Estate Summit, which was launched in the Spring 2024 semester to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas among members of the real estate development industry. The inaugural event attracted an audience of well over 250 people and included an economic forecast, panel discussion, and networking reception. We plan to hold the summit on an annual basis long into the future and reach a larger audience each year.
Heading into the summer, we would like to thank all our
stakeholders for their ongoing support. Without it, our program would simply
not be what it is today.
Sincerely, Dustin C. Read, Ph.D., J.D. Professor and Director
The Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program recently hosted the inaugural Clemson University Real Estate Summit in partnership with Choate Construction as the presenting sponsor. Launched to strengthen ties between the academy and industry, the event attracted an audience of nearly 300 community leaders, faculty, students, and industry professionals to downtown Greenville on April 18, 2024.
Conway is the founding principal and owner of
KC-nomics, LLC, an independent and privately owned economic forecasting and
research firm. Known as the “Original Red-Shoe Economist,” he previously
co-founded Red Shoe Economics, LLC, and served as Chief Economist for the CCIM
Institute. Conway has more than three decades of experience as an economist,
teacher, lender, appraiser and credit officer.
KC Conway speaks at the inaugural Clemson University Real Estate Summit on April 18, 2024.
Economist K.C. Conway’s
keynote presentation focused on the state of the national and regional economy,
along with the implications for the real estate development industry at large.
He offered insights into capital market trends, demographic shifts and supply
chain issues effecting demand for various real estate product types across the
United States.
A panel discussion
followed the keynote presentation. Nate Sittema, a member of CBRE’s debt and
structured finance team, moderated a lively conversation examining the rapid
evolution of the build-to-rent (BTR) and single-family rental (SFR) segments of
the U.S. housing market. The nationally recognized panel of experts included
Russ Davis with Homes Urban LLC, Shannon Lavrin with the City of Greenville, Joe
Parsons with Greystar, and Ryan Bowes with First Key Homes, LLC.
“The real estate development community really stepped up to make the Summit a success” said Dustin Read, director of Clemson University’s MRED program. “Both industry sponsorships and attendance exceeded our expectations for an inaugural event and showed us just how much demand there is for a forum to exchange ideas in the Upstate of South Carolina. We look forward to collaborating with our industry partners to host many more summits in the future.”
The inaugural Clemson
University Real Estate Summit was supported by presenting sponsor Choate
Construction; featured sponsors CF Evans Construction and SouthCoast; table
sponsors Burr & Forman, Homes Urban LLC and Metromont; orange sponsors
CBRE, Graycliff Capital, Greystar, LS3P, Orange Capital Advisors, Pintail,
SeamonWhiteside, Truliant Federal Credit Union and United Community Bank; and
in-kind sponsors CREW-UPSTATE, Greenville Commercial GGAR, SIOR®-CCIM and
ULI-SC.
2025
Clemson University Real Estate Summit plans are in process and additional
information on next year’s event and topics will be announced later this year.
For questions about current MRED Program’s initiatives and/or ways to get involved or support future Real Estate Summit events, please contact program director, Dustin Read.
The Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) Program and Choate Construction are pleased to host the inaugural Clemson University Real Estate Summit. To strengthen ties between the academy and industry, the event will bring together over 200 real estate practitioners, community leaders, researchers, and students in downtown Greenville to discuss market trends and emerging issues. The itinerary includes an economic forecast presented by nationally recognized speaker, KC Conway, and a moderated panel discussion on this year’s topic of interest: build-to-rent housing development.
The Real Estate Summit will be held on Thursday, April 18 at the Huguenot Loft, 101 W. Broad Street, Greenville, SC 29601.
Two
Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) students have been awarded scholarships
to attend the SIOR Spring World Conference in Amelia
Island, FL, May 6-9, 2024.
Arden
Hamilton and Baker Reese were selected as finalists from the Carolinas to
participate in the SIOR Foundation Student Real Estate Experience Program
Scholarship for spring 2024. Each will
be assigned a sponsoring SIOR mentor for the world conference.
The
SIOR scholarships assist with conference expenses, including registration,
hotel, and travel. Applications were accepted from UNC Charlotte, Clemson
University, Coastal Carolina, and the College of Charleston. Each university
was able to nominate two students for award consideration.
Arden Hamilton
Arden Hamilton joined the real estate development program
from Ontario, Canada after completing a bachelor’s degree in architecture from
Carleton University in 2023. She plans to combine her development,
architecture, and design interest in the industrial and office sectors. Prior
to graduate school, Hamilton interned for Ware Malcomb, an industrial
architecture firm in Ontario.
“My journey with the MRED program at Clemson University
has been transformative, fueled by the invaluable experiences and connections I’ve
fostered along the way, said Hamilton. “Extremely honored to have been selected
as one of the recipients to attend SIOR world conference this spring
and looking forward to embarking on this fabulous learning
opportunity.”
“Arden has represented the
MRED program extraordinarily well during her time at Clemson University,” said
Dustin Read, MRED Program Director. She is doing everything she can to make the
most of graduate school, including building her professional network through
collaboration with prominent trade organizations such as SIOR.”
Baker Reese
Baker Reese, from Sullivan’s Island, SC, received an undergraduate
degree in financial management from Clemson University in 2023 prior to beginning
the real estate development program. After graduation, Reese is interested in industrial and
office brokerage in the southeast and desires to
leverage a background in finance and underwriting for multi-use and industrial
projects for real estate development and investment.
“I am extremely grateful for Clemson and SIOR to have the opportunity to attend an event like this,” said Reese. “I am most looking forward to shaking as many hands as possible and representing myself and Clemson to the best of my ability. I view relationships as being the cornerstone of real estate and see this opportunity as a great kick-starter to my career after graduation. I am excited for an eventful week and thank you to everyone who made this possible.”
“I’m very pleased Baker has an opportunity to participate in the SIOR Spring World Conference,” said Read. “It will provide him with additional exposure to the commercial real estate brokerage industry that is likely to prove very beneficial as he starts his career in the field. I’m sure he will make the most of the event.”
“The Carolinas Chapter of SIOR has once again demonstrated its commitment to developing the next generation of commercial real estate professionals by providing Arden and Baker financial support to attend the Spring World Conference. We can’t thank them enough for everything they do for Clemson University’s MRED program, and other real estate programs throughout the Carolinas.”
The Clemson
MRED Program is a long-standing partner of SIOR and the SIOR Foundation. The SIOR Foundation supports programs for
students interested in pursuing careers in commercial real estate, including
global and chapter-level scholarships, educational programming, and mentoring.
The
Society of Industrial and Office Realtors is the leading global professional
office and industrial real estate association. With more than 3,900 members in
49 countries, SIOR represents today’s most knowledgeable, experienced, and
successful commercial real estate brokerage specialists.
Zion Kaauwai, Beau Good, and Jordan Smith present Riverworks at Eastern Wharf as 2023 Colvin Case team finalists.
Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) Program students Beau Good, Zion Kaauwai, and Jordan Smith finished in third-place at the Colvin Case Study Challenge hosted by the University of Maryland on December 9, 2023. They received the honor for writing a compelling analysis of the development of Riverworks at Eastern Wharf, a mixed-use real estate project located in Savannah, GA that has been celebrated for extending the city’s riverfront and creating a dynamic new place for area residents to enjoy.
“I’m extremely proud of the work Beau, Zion, and Jordan did for the Colvin Case Study Challenge this year,” said team advisor and MRED Program director, Dr. Dustin Read. “It illustrates their understanding of many best practices in real estate development that we emphasize throughout our program.”
Since 2016, the University of Maryland has hosted the Colvin Case Study Challenge as a national intercollegiate real estate case study competition for full or part-time students enrolled in a college or university real estate program. The goal of the competition is to “hone professional skills and reveal the knowledge base and understanding of markets, project valuation, finance, urban design, sustainability, entitlement processes and operational issues.” The four top teams from across the nation are invited to College Park, MD to present the results of their case study on the University of Maryland’s campus.
Clemson University’s Master of Real Estate Development
(MRED) program is excited to announce a curriculum update beginning in the Fall
2023 semester as it moves to its new home in the College of Architecture, Art
and Construction. While the program’s foundational core curriculum remains
intact, the modifications provide students more flexibility, faster time-to-degree
and additional industry connections.
The MRED program is now a 35-credit hour professional degree
program that can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis. Courses are
organized in a manner that makes it possible for full-time students to complete
the program in as little as one year and part-time students in as little as two
years. Administered by the Nieri Department of Construction,
Development and Planning, the MRED program draws heavily from the academic
disciplines of architecture, construction, finance, law, city and regional
planning and real estate.
Since 2004, the MRED program has blended interdisciplinary coursework
with hands-on learning activities including internships, field studies and
independent research. Degree requirements continue to include an internship
experience and a final practicum course on a real-world proposed development.
Clemson University’s goal is to provide students with a 360-degree
view and understanding of development through industry connections, training
and technology readiness, as well as a chance to explore and learn from some of
the most notable developments in the region and nation.
“We are very
excited about the enhancements we’ve made to the MRED program’s curriculum and
hope they will serve to make the training we offer available to a broader group
of aspirant real estate developers,” said Professor Dustin Read, MRED program
director.
The program will now accept applications for Fall, Spring,
and Summer and accommodate working professionals who wish to continue their
careers while completing graduate school.
For more information on the MRED Program or to apply, visit www.clemson.edu/mred.
George J. Petersen, the Provost Distinguished Professor of Educational Innovation at Clemson University, has been appointed interim dean of the newly formed College of Architecture, Art and Construction (CAAC).
Petersen served as the founding dean of Clemson’s College of Education from 2014 to 2022.
CAAC will be composed of the existing School of Architecture, the Department of Art, and the Nieri Department of Construction, Development and Planning. Its departments currently enroll 858 undergraduate and 274 graduate students across five undergraduate and 11 graduate degree programs. In 2020, Clemson’s M. Arch. program was ranked No. 9 in DesignIntelligence’s rankings of “healthy built environments,” No. 15 in “design theory and practice” and No. 20 in “most admired.” The School of Architecture was also ranked the No. 8 “most hired from” school in its size category.
He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Educational Policy, Organizations, and Leadership Studies as well as a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from University of California, Santa Barbara. He also earned a B.A. in Philosophy (cum laude) from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy.
Read the full Clemson News article published on April 24, 2023.
Stephen Buckman, an associate professor in Clemson University’s Nieri Department of Construction, Development and Planning, has been selected as a 2023-2024 U.S. Fulbright Scholar for Brazil.
“I’m a little shocked and very humbled to be selected as a Fulbright Scholar,” Buckman said. “This is a huge honor.”
Buckman, who teaches in the Master of Real Estate Development program, will conduct research focusing on issues of land value capture and land tenure as it relates to the real estate sector and the integration of Rio De Janeiro’s favelas into the urban fabric.
“Favelas are informal settlements—often built with recycled materials—found in cities throughout Latin America,” Buckman explained. He plans to continue his examination of the Favela-Bairro Project with Professor James Miyamoto at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
He noted that while property is bought and sold in the favelas, deals are often conducted only orally. “We’ll be looking into land-tenure rights and land value-capture and how that relates to issues of resiliency,” he said. “We’ll also study how to legitimize land valuation in areas that abut the favelas. We need to determine how to quantify that value.”
According to the U.S. Department of State, Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious and competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbright scholars also play a critical role in U.S. public diplomacy, establishing long-term relationships between people and nations. Alumni include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders and world-renowned experts in academia and many other fields across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
Buckman plans to spend two months in Brazil in the summer of 2023, and another two months in the summer of 2024 to complete his research.
“Dr. Buckman’s selection for the Fulbright program underscores the quality of research conducted by our faculty,” noted Mike Jackson, chair of the Nieri Department of Construction, Development and Planning. “It’s exciting to see a member of our faculty chosen to represent our University and our nation in Brazil.”
Article originally posted on ClemsonNews on April 17, 2023.
The MRED Program is excited to welcome David Kahn and Chuck McShane as guest speakers for the 2023 Charles Fraser Lecture Series happening on Thursday, March 2 at 5:30 PM at Greenville ONE in downtown Greenville, SC.
The 2023 lecture will feature a discussion on the Regional Real Estate Market Outlook: Opportunities, Challenges, & Emerging Trends. The Charles Fraser Lecture Series is free and open to the public.
David Kahn Bio David Kahn is the Director of Research for ShopCore Properties, the retail affiliate of The Blackstone Group. He is responsible for guiding the retail research efforts for ShopCore and Blackstone, keeping stakeholders informed about the latest trends and development in the real estate market. With a deep understanding of the economic landscape, David works closely with the executive team to shape investment and operational strategies, ensuring that ShopCore stays ahead of the curve at a regional and national level.
Before joining ShopCore, Mr. Kahn previously served as CoStar Group’s Director of Market Analytics for the Southeast. He is a sought-after speaker at major industry events hosted by organizations such as CCIM, ICSC, and the Georgia Apartment Association and has been quoted in news publications such as the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. David has roughly 10 years’ experience in commercial real estate research and analytics and is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.
Chuck McShane Bio Chuck McShane is the Director of Market Analytics at CoStar based in Charlotte, where he analyzes office, industrial, retail, and multifamily trends for the Atlanta, Charlotte, and South Carolina markets. He regularly presents to CoStar clients and industry groups and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Charlotte Business Journal, and Charlotte Observer, among other media outlets.
Chuck spent more than a decade in journalism and economic development in the Carolinas before joining CoStar in March 2021. Most recently, he led the research team at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and Charlotte Chamber, where he developed industry studies and supported office and industrial relocation and expansion projects. He holds a bachelor’s and doctorate in public policy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Questions about the Charles Fraser Lecture Series or the 2023 lecture, please contact: matthe3@clemson.edu.
