Development Challenge

Challenge ROI

• $30,000 in total monetary prizes for top finalist teams
• Top industry judges
• Amazing networking opportunity
• Bragging rights and a resume highlight
• Recognition from industry, alumni, peers and potential employers
• Earn Challenge swag
• Visit Chapel Hill!

Drilling down

The Case Challenge officially begins with the distribution of the challenge case on the Thursday before Challenge week. Until the Monday morning of Challenge week, teams work furiously to put together the best comprehensive solution to the development case.

Thursday evening teams gather in Chapel Hill for a welcome reception and dinner. The next day, the challenge competition begins in earnest. Using 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.

After lunch, the teams learn which four teams will move to the finals in the afternoon. The “Final Four” present again in the afternoon to the entire judging pool and the remaining teams. Prizes are presented and teams celebrate at a social that Friday night in Chapel Hill.

If you would like more information on the UNC Real Estate Development Challenge, please contact Wood Center Communications and Events Manager Kelsey Faulkner.

2025 Challenge Case

MBA students from some of the top business schools in the nation gathered in Chapel Hill in February for the 2026 UNC Real Estate Development Challenge. For the fourth consecutive year, we were fortunate to partner with Hines as the competition’s sponsor.

The case this year asked 16 teams to assume the role of a developer responding to a government request for proposals to redevelop a large, abandoned office complex in downtown Austin, Texas. Teams were required not only to design a viable development program but also to propose a ground lease structure that balanced the interests of the developer against those of the State of Texas, which owned the land and sought a reasonable return without bearing undue development risk.

The challenge was complicated by the fact that Austin’s real estate market was in a broad cyclical trough at the time of the case, requiring teams to make a well-supported argument that their chosen mix of uses would generate attractive returns once market conditions improved. Institutional capital providers were also part of the picture, and teams had to demonstrate that the financial structure was compelling enough to attract outside equity while preserving meaningful upside for the developer. Ultimately, the case was an exercise in decision-making under uncertainty, asking teams to think carefully about how to structure a complex transaction so that risk was appropriately allocated among all parties — and so that a credible exit strategy existed if market recovery failed to materialize.

The winning teams for the 2026 challenge:

• 1st place: Northwestern Kellogg School of Management

• 2nd place: UCLA Anderson School of Management

• 3rd place: Texas McCombs School of Business and Chicago Booth School of Business