The Real Estate Preservation Feasibility class toured the Wilkins House and the Claussen Bakery in Greenville, SC as a class site visit. The Wilkins House was moved from Augusta Road in August 2014 to Mills Avenue. The Wilkins House, ca. 1870, serves as one of Greenville’s most historic structures. Neil Wilson, principal of Realty Link, helped make the relocation and rehabilitation possible. The Claussen Bakery is a historic Greenville bakery founded by German immigrant Johann Claussen.
The MRED Class of 2015 spent ten days traveling from Myrtle Beach to Charleston to Hilton Head Island and Savannah, GA in May. The 2015 trip continued with time-honored stops and added some new sites along the way as students studied some of the nation’s premier resort, retail, office, hotel historic, mixed-use, golf, and master planned communities these areas have to offer. 2015 tour stops included: Market Common,Sweet Grass Square, and the City of Myrtle Beach, Ocean Lakes Family Campground, Broadway at the Beach, Daniel Island, Greystar, I’On, The Ponds, NEXTON, Kiawah Island, Habersham, Central Savannah, Spring Island, Sea Pines, Shelter Cove, and Palmetto Bluff.
The 2015 MRED 1st Year student trip to Atlanta included a variety of different project types. Greg Ryan of Brookfield Logistics Properties and Dan Pattillo of Rooker Co. started off Thursday’s tour discussing an industrial property at Jefferson Distribution Center. Next on the tour was an introduction to Avalon with Justin Long of North American Properties.
Brian Bollins, Choate Construction Project Executive provided a lunch presentation at El Felix on restaurant construction, along with Emily Bridges of Choate Construction. The students heard the story of Northpark from John Heagy and Mark Ferris with Hines, along with Don Mabry of Simpson Housing.
Friday morning brought sunshine and a tour and in depth site overview of the Atlanta New Stadium Project with Brad Hutto and Bob Evans of Holder, along wtih Jason Hughes with Darden & Company. Sandi Parker with Jamestown, L.P. conducted a fascinating tour providing the history and background of Ponce City Market. The group took a break at Krog Street Market in Inman Park, to experience the open market style food and retail goods. At the last stop, the group met up with MRED ’12 alumni Taylor Brown of the Integral Group, to learn about the future of the Former GM Plant Site in Doraville, Georgia.
MRED students sat down with Advancement Board for Real Estate Development (ABRED) Director Russ Davis on January 9, 2015 and listened to insights on his career as a developer and current projects underway with his company, Davis Propery Group.
Drew and Holly Douglas Schaumber (MRED ’11), Principals with the Douglas Development Company in Aynor SC, spoke to the Public-Private Partnership Class about a 55-unit Low Income Tax Credit (LIHTC) project.
The project, just approved in Asheville NC, incorporated several layers of gap financing. Students spent the prior week studying the LIHTC program including an assignment on determining tax credits and the capital stack for a proposed project in SC using the proposed Qualified Allocation Plan and Developer Tax Credit Manual for 2015. Drew and Holly presented the financial details of the project including the Letter of Intent to purchase the credits. Since 1973, Douglas Development has developed over 5,000 senior and multi-family units in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee and Maryland.
Ms. Tammy Propst, President of Tax Advantage Group since its founding in 2004, spoke to the Public-Private Partnership class about New Market Tax Credits (NMTC).
Ms. Propst has advised public and private organizations on the formation of CDEs, successfully authored New Market Tax Credit Applications totaling $520 million in funding, and advised both CDEs and borrowers in over $239.2 million of successful closings. She is part of the team that created Greenville New Markets Opportunity, (GNMO) LLC, the first allocated Community Development Entity (CDE) in South Carolina and became its Operating Officer, deploying $89 million of below-market capital to stimulate job creation and investment in Greenville’s low-income communities. She used local and national examples to describe how the program operates.
The program was pleased to host MRED ’09 Laura Allen Stevenson on October 14, 2014 for a presentation on Global RE Opportunities with ExxonMobil. As a Commercial Portfolio Manager with ExxonMobil in Houston, TX, Laura manages a portfolio of non-operating surplus real estate sites. Sites are deemed surplus by the various ExxonMobil business lines and are then transferred to her group where they manage the sites and handle the disposition of each site. They are a group of 10 individuals managing ExxonMobil’s surplus real estate worldwide. Laura’s current portfolio is approximately 100 sites and covers Texas, California, North Carolina, South Carolina and Arizona. She manages various types of dispositions, which include sales, bundle sales, conservation easements, donations, etc. Each site has a different prior use and could be a former refinery, former terminal, reserve drill site, vacant service station, greenfield, etc. The prior use of each site determines the appropriate highest and best future use of the site and which disposition type is appropriate.
MRED alumni, Kate Graham Oliveria ’12 and John Roberson ’12 each presented an investment deal to a shark tank committee for the Fall 2014 MRED Program Bull Session. MRED students had the opportunity to listen to both proposed investment opportunities that were presented to a mock investment committee, comprised of ABRED Directors, Mike McNicholas, Steve Navarro, and Chris Pearce.
MRED Alumni Presenters:
1st Case: John Roberson, MRED ’12 with Greystar
–Presenting Flats at Inman Station in Atlanta, GA
2nd Case: Kate Graham Oliveria, MRED ’12, with Ernst & Young Transaction Advisory Services
–Presenting Project Octopus outside of San Francisco, CA
Clemson’s Real Estate Development Program Partners with Mill Village Farms and The Farm at Rabon Creek for the Program’s Annual Community Service Day
Greenville, S.C. (September 23, 2014) — Clemson University’s Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program volunteered at the Farm Fresh Fair, a partnership between Mill Village Farms and The Farm at Rabon Creek, for the program’s annual community service day on Saturday, September 20. The Farm Fresh Fair is hosted together by Mill Village Farms, a nonprofit that employs teens, ages 13-18, and teaches them basic job skills, sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship, and The Farm at Rabon Creek, located in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. The fair featured rescued, restored and repurposed products for purchase as well as a variety of farm fresh food from local farmers. Proceeds from the fair benefit Mill Village Farms and support their mission to transform the community by growing fresh foods and developing successful youth entrepreneurs.
About Mill Village Farms
Mill Village Farms is a non-profit growing fresh produce in food-desert communities that lack access to healthy foods while employing at-risk youth who learn basic job skills, sustainable agriculture, and entrepreneurship. For more information on Mill Village Farms, visit the website at www.millvillagefarms.org.
On Thursday, September 11, the MRED Program and CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Upstate hosted a networking reception and panel discussion on trends in commercial real estate development. Panelists included the Honorable Helen Elizabeth Burris, United States bankruptcy judge of the District of South Carolina; Amy Clayton of Nexsen Pruet; Jimmy Grumbos, real estate manager, Michelin North America; and Courtney Warren, property and casualty consultant, Rosenfeld Einstein.
