Month: May 2024

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.

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.