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.
