Centers | REFIC

About Our Program

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Program Highlights

National Real Estate Challenge

In the National Real Estate Challenge, graduate student teams from 16 top schools compete for highest honors and cash awards in a National real estate case competition.

2012 Winners: 1st: Columbia University, 2nd: University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, 3rd: UNC, 4th: UT Austin

McCombs 2012 Real Estate Challenge Team






McCombs Challenge Team 2012

Real Estate Council Conferences

The Real Estate Council is comprised of leading practitioners in Texas and all over the U.S. who serve as advisors and financial supporters of the Center. The Council’s private conferences provide an opportunity to share real estate insight and best practices.

Career Mentoring for Students

Mentoring matches business professionals to students interested in their field, creating a relationship that promotes the education of students and increases networking.

Real Estate Practicums

An MBA course that provides opportunities for students to work on real-world projects supplied by real estate companies, with project supervision by center faculty.

REIT Fund

Started in 2007, the REIT Fund is a student-managed investment fund that focuses solely on U.S. Real Estate Trust (REIT) equity securities.

Summer Real Estate Symposium

Hosted by: UT-Austin, UC-Berkeley, Columbia, UCLA, Wharton, Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Singapore
The center co-hosts an annual summer real estate research conference with other top schools. It includes research by academics in real estate, finance and economics.

Student Organization Support

Graduate Real Estate Society
Undergraduate Real Estate Society

Center History

In November 1999, the Department of Finance at The University of Texas at Austin created the first Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at a major university. The Center’s purpose is to support curriculum development in real estate at the university as well as to support faculty research and faculty development in the department. The Center is the focal point for the creation of a nationally recognized real estate program.

The Department of Finance in the McCombs School believes that real estate and capital markets are undergoing fundamental transformations that necessitate the design of new curricula and imaginative and significant research. Moreover, there is a critical need to better prepare managers to comprehend the role of securitization and capital markets in real estate investment and development. Real estate companies have a growing necessity for well-trained managers in areas such as financial analysis, project evaluation, as well as equity and debt securitization. The Center’s goal is to meet that need at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Founding Members of the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center, Founded 1999

 Beau Armstrong  Stratus Properties                               
 Cal Axtell    Dana Commercial
 Lucy Billingsley   Billingsley Company
 Jim Brownlow  Stonehill-PRM Realty
 Tom Delatour   Century Bridge Capital
Robert Duncan Transwestern
Charles Dunleavy                 GMAC Commercial Mortgage
David Dunning                 United Commercial Development
Walter Embrey               Embrey Partners
Tony Fernandez              Guaranty Bank
Steve Ford  Resolution, Inc.
Mark Gibson                     HFF
John Goff   Crescent
Sandy Gottesman The Gottesman Company
David Graham  Capital One Bank
Barry Henry Crow Holdings
Carolyn Frost Keenan   Keenan Family Interests
Ed Kelley USAA Real Estate Company
Bob Kolba                          City Center Development
Dick LeBlanc                     Hanover Property Company
Steve Lee                           Lee Investments
Dean MacFarlan              MacFarlan Capital Partners
Butch McCaslin                McCaslin Development Company
Marc Myers Myers & Crow Company
Pat Oles  Barshop & Oles
Will Penland                     CB Richard Ellis
Steve Prinz Wells Fargo
John T. Stewart, III          Guaranty Bank
Jeff Swope Champion Partners
Gifford Touchstone        Gifford Touchstone & Company
Todd Williams                 Goldman Sachs & Co.
John Zogg                              Crescent                                                             
                                                               

Founding Director: George W. Gau

Page last updated: 5/16/2013