The UNC Real Estate Development Challenge is a case competition hosted by the Center for Real Estate Development at Kenan-Flagler Business School. An invitation-only event, each spring the Challenge convenes 16 teams from the US and Europe’s top-20 MBA programs to compete. This annual event is the first business school case competition to focus solely on real estate development. In the past, the case has challenged teams to propose uses for an actual site, devise a development program and site plan, and work through project financials. We invite teams in the early fall for this early spring event.
A Typical Event Schedule
The Case Challenge officially begins with the distribution of the challenge case. This is done the Tuesday of Challenge week. Once distributed, teams may not receive outside help from anyone including faculty and team alternates. Teams may use only public research that they find on the Internet.
By Thursday evening, teams gather in Chapel Hill for a welcome reception and dinner. The next day, the challenge competition begins in earnest. Teams gather at the school for breakfast and the drawing of the morning presentation times. We use four presentation rooms simultaneously; teams present their case solutions in a 20-minute presentation, followed by 5 minutes of questions from judges who are experts in the real estate industry. Only after lunch do teams learn which four will move to the finals in the afternoon. The "Final Four" present again in the afternoon to a judging pool and the remaining teams. By afternoon's end, the judges select the team that they believe has given the best solution to the Challenge Case. Cash prizes go to first, second and third-place teams. We host a social Friday night to celebrate in Chapel Hill for those teams that can remain until Saturday.
2011 Challenge Trivia:
- The 2011 Challenge case was inspired by a Global Immersion Elective led by Dave Hartzell in 2010 to Montevideo, Uruguay. Similar to prior Challenge cases, the case contained several moving parts and focused on a redevelopment project of the General Artigas Central Train Station in Montevideo.
- The winning teams for the 2011 Challenge were first place, University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, second place, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, and a tie for third place, University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business and Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
- Companies represented on our 2011 panel of judges: AvalonBay Communities, Aviva Investors, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BioMed Realty Trust, BPG Properties, Elm Street Development, Fannie Mae, GLJ Partners, Gracchus Capital, Greystar Real Estate Partners, Hawthorne Retail Partners, Highwoods Properties, Hyde Street Holdings, Johnson Capital, McCraney Property Company, Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC, Morningstar Properties, Northwood Investors, ProLogis, Prudential Real Estate Investors, Real Capital Analytics Inc., The John R. McAdams Company, Trammell Crow , Wood Partners.