Year: 2023

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. 

April 17, 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.