News and Announcements

Gala Tickets Now Live Move over Truman Capote Black & White Ball... anyone who’s anyone knows that the most important event of the year for the Berkeley-affiliated real estate set is…the BREAA GALA! Our 4th Annual Gala will be held on Thursday, October 12th at the City Club of San Francisco to honor Carol Galante for her impact on housing throughout her career and her incredible contributions to the Cal community. Tickets are now live with EARLY BIRD pricing $250 for both members and a +1 guest. We highly encourage everyone to take advantage of the lowest pricing. Save even more on membership with the Membership + Gala Bundle! After Sunday, September 10th, the price will rise to $275 for members and $295 for a +1 guest. Tickets are going fast - do not wait! Register here.White Ball... anyone who’s anyone knowsRLY BIRD pricing $250 for both members and a +1 guest. We highly encourage everyone to take advantage of the lowest pricing. Save even more on membership with the Membership + Gala Bundle! After Sunday, September 10th, the price will rise to $275 for members and $295 for a +1 guest. Tickets are going fast - do not wait! Register here.  Upcoming Fall Events Investing in Art: Activating the Public Realm Wednesday, September 6th 5:00pm - 6:30pm YMCA at 23rd St & Broadway - Oakland, CA Join us for an immersive walking tour in Downtown Oakland with the Bay Area Mural Program. We'll explore the murals that make Oakland's urban landscape so unique and has designated it a cultural center. Led by local muralists, we'll touch on how art integration can transform space, activate the public realm, increase property value, and create lasting value for both developers and communities Happy Hour to follow at First Edition. Register her Club Level Seats! San Francisco Giants v. Cleveland Guardians Tuesday, September 12th 5:00pm drinks / 6:45pm game  Victory Hall 360 Ritch St - San Francisco, CA 3 tickets left! Grab a drink with fellow Bears before the game at Victory Hall  around 5 PM, and then head over to the game at Oracle Park for a 6:45 PM start. Game tickets are in section CL230, Row H on the club level. BREAA's excited to sponsor a patio-level experience with discounted drinks/bites. Friends and family welcome! Register here. Blueprint Conference (Discounted Pricing) Monday, September 11th to Wednesday, September 13th The Venetian - Las Vegas, NV BREAA is excited to offer discounted pricing for the Blueprint Conference (not a BREAA-organized event), where over 2,000 of the most influential leaders in real estate, construction, and climate technology will convene for 3 days in Las Vegas.  Speakers include CEOs & top executives from Dealpath, Invitation Homes, Dusty Robotics, Related Companies, Douglas Elliman, Crews by Core Construction, Divvy Homes, and Moderne Ventures, and many more. Register here. Happy Hour Hosted by DivCore Tuesday, September 26th 5:30pm - 7:30pm DivCore Offices 301 Howard St, Floor 21 - San Francisco, CA

Very Special Thanks to our Sponsor

BREAA in partnership with Carmel Partners hosted a Graduating Students Mixer for real estate students graduating this Spring to network with Cal alumni working in real estate in the Bay Area and beyond.

The purpose of this mixer was for students to meet other Cal graduates working in the industry, learn about different companies, and make new connections that will help in their employment-seeking journey.

Thank you to the 75+ attendees for an excellent turnout--a roughly equal mix of alumni and students. Inspiring conversations were had and invaluable connections were made!

You can find memories of this great event here!
BREAA Mixer Gallery

This would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship from Carmel Partners, one of the nation’s leading real estate investment managers.

Go bears and congratulations to the Class of 2023!

BREAA Bay Area May 2023

Hello BREAA!

Happy spring! Hope you are surviving the doom loop. It's been a fun couple of months with BREAA hosting events such as Bakar BioEngenuity Hub Tour (photo above) & the Carmel Partners Mixer (recap below), in addition to our regularly scheduled Happy Hours.

Berkeley graduation is nearly upon us! , i.e., time to put out of your mind how long ago your own graduation was. This installation of the newsletter will focus on what's going on on campus.

Graduating real estate students have full-time jobs and internships starting in summer 2023 at:  Hines, Howard Hughes Corporation, Cruise (real estate division), Jonathan Rose Companies, CIM, Related, USAA, and Bank of  America, to name a few. Geographies include:  San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Houston, Honolulu, Seattle, and Colombia. 

Keep reading to hear about the latest case competitions, learn what courses are being offered on campus, and meet some highly qualified current students seeking jobs--have a look to see if any of them could be a fit at your firm! 

Upcoming Events

• May 16 - 18: ULI Toronto
• June 22: BREAA | USC AREN | SPIRE - Downtown San Jose Development Bus Tour with Urban Catalyst. Hosted happy hour to follow. Details and registration will be released soon. Space will be limited.
• Fall Gala: Date & venue to be announced shortly!

Hope to see you out there soon!

Case Competition Update

Left to right: Esmeralda Jardines, MRED+D 23; Marshall Slipp,MBA 23; Abigail Franklin, team advisor;
Jack Woodruff, MBA 23,; Jordan Doane, MRED+D 23; Bill Falik, team advisor and continuing lecturer,
real estate; and Serena Lousich, MRED+D 23. Photo: Tom Chappelear

• Golden Shovel (pictured above): Apr 2023, Berkeley beats Stanford in 34th annual NAIOP "Golden Shovel" competition (link).

• UNC Development Challenge: Feb 2022, Berkeley places 3rd of 16 top MBA teams in the (link)

• UT Austin: Nov 2022, Berkeley places second in the UT Austin National Real Estate Challenge. MIT places first. (link) Berkeley has placed in the top 5 all of the last 5 years, including first places finishes in 2018, 2019, and 2021

What's Being Offered on Campus

Current real estate course offerings at Haas. Yes, Dennis is still going strong!!

Spring 2023:

• MBA 280:  Real Estate Investment Analysis and Sustainability--Nancy Wallace
• MBA 285:  Business and Legal Issues in Real Estate Development--Joe South and Ashley Weinstein-Carnes (took over from Bill Falik in Spring 2022)
• MBA 287:  Accelerating Careers in Real Estate--Abby Franklin (new course started in 2021)

Fall 2023:  

• MBA 283--Real Estate Finance and Securitization--Tim McQuade (taking over from Nancy Wallace in Fall 2023)
• MBA 282--Real Estate Development--Dennis Williams

Hire A Bear

Profiles of MBA, MCP, and MRED+D students who will be graduating shortly and are looking for real estate opportunities

TORI HOFF 

Master of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D) ‘23

Target Role: My target role is a development manager or project manager position that allows me to work through the entire development process. I am looking to work on projects in the multifamily, R&D, or life science product.

Target Location: California or Pacific Northwest

Real Estate Background: I previously worked as the leasing and marketing director for a 19-unit live-work redevelopment project located in West Berkeley. I also was an electrical engineer designing electrical building systems for healthcare facilities, military bases and government buildings. In this work I would perform fieldwork, create construction drawings and provide construction administration support.

Best Berkeley Experience: Lindsay Baker with the International Living Future Institute came to lecture in the Sustainable Design Colloquium class about her work on the Living Building Challenge. Her lecture gave me so much excitement and inspiration for how buildings can become more sustainable and can create a positive impact on the environment.

Get in Touch: hoffv@berkeley.edu

ASHIYR PEARSON 

Master of City Planning (MCP) '23

Target Role: Associate Project Management, Affordable Housing Development

Target Location: Los Angeles

Real Estate Background: For the last year, I've worked as a Development Assistant at Century Affordable Development doing the following: Securing funding & entitlements, managing contracts & invoices, and managing contractors & external consultants.

Best Berkeley Experience: It wasn't on Berkeley's campus, but being a student afforded me the opportunity to speak to a group of High School students in Oakland. It was a deeply moving experience where I got to share life experiences and provide advice for the future. 

Get in Touch: ashiyr_pierson@berkeley.edu

Ivy Ta Ivy Ta is a driven and ambitious senior at UC Berkeley, majoring in Urban Studies and minoring in Sustainable Design. Ivy has shown a strong commitment to the Berkeley Real Estate community since joining the Undergraduate Real Estate Club (UREC) during her sophomore year. Over the years, Ivy has made her way up the ranks of UREC and currently serves as Senior Advisor after her term as Co-President for the Fall 2022 semester. With internships at Sperry Equities, Project Destined’s Commercial Real Estate Team, and Prime Residential’s Transactions Team, Ivy has a bright future ahead of her. Over the next five years, Ivy hopes to build a successful career in development, positively influencing the built environment.

Serena Lousich Serena Lousich is in the Masters of Real Estate + Development Program graduating May 2023. She previously holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture and a Bachelors in Architectural Studies. Having worked in the Bay Area as a Senior Landscape Designer for award winning Landscape Architecture Firm - Surfacedesign Inc for 4 years prior to going back to school, here she worked on a variety and range of commercial projects in the Bay Area and Aotearoa (New Zealand). Her passion lies with Indigenous led design and development, being of Māori descent herself and having worked with tribes both in Aotearoa and California, her capstone project seeks to find innovative solutions for Indigenous agency in the design and development process. She hopes to continue to do this throughout her professional career in real estate development. She is also a 2023 NAIOP Golden Shovel Cal team member.

We are excited to announce the second cohort of the BREAA Student Fellowships: graduate student Lily Lorbeer and undergraduate student Jason Phan. Lily and Jason were selected from a wide array of candidates across UC Berkeley’s real estate programs and were unparalleled in their academic accomplishments and interest in pursuing careers in real estate. Please join us in congratulating Lily and Jason!

Lily Lorbeer is a Haas MBA and Interdisciplinary Real Estate Certificate candidate. Prior to Haas, Lily worked at Wayfair and managed her family’s small retail and office portfolio. During the height of the pandemic, she drew upon her expertise in online sales at Wayfair to help her tenants weather mandatory shutdowns. Lily has an outstanding academic record and has leveraged her role as VP of Admissions and Recruitment for the Berkeley Real Estate Club to inspire more women to join Haas in pursuit of a real estate careers. She is also a Consortium Member, Forté Fellow, VP of Partnerships for Women in Leadership Club, and recipient of Haas Defining Leader Scholarship Award. Lily joins BREAA with a passion for real estate and was thrilled to work as a Real Estate Intern at Cruise, a leading self-driving vehicle company.

Lily hopes to use her time as a BREAA Fellow to connect with the broader Berkeley real estate community of alumni and students. In the interim, Lily is representing UC Berkeley in the 2022 UT Austin National Real Estate Competition. We wish her and the team the best a luck and another Cal win!

Jason Phan is a UC Berkely undergraduate pursuing a BA in Economics degree and a Minor in City Planning and Data Science. Jason has been an active member of the Berkeley Real Estate community since joining the Undergraduate Real Estate Club (UREC) where he serves as the club’s VP of Marketing. As a first-generation college student, he has already made impressive academic and professional strides, securing internships with CBRE’s Multifamily and Capital Markets team in LA and the Project Destined Commercial Real Estate Team.

Upon graduation, Jason hopes to work in commercial multifamily acquisitions and, eventually, pursue an MBA. As a BREAA Fellow, Jason is seeking to expand his real estate network, building relationships across roles with professionals in law, design, policy, and investments. We are thrilled to welcome Jason to the BREAA family!

The annual BREAA Student Fellowship is generously sponsored by Perkins + Will, Grosvenor, and Bill Falik. Please contact a BREAA Board Member if you would like to join this generous group in supporting future student fellowships.

FELLOWSHIP COMPONENTS

• $3,000 Tuition Award

• ​​Reimbursement for real estate-related educational programming, training, professional development and industry memberships

• ​​Registration to all BREAA events

• ​​Mentorship by an industry professional who will advise and provide guidance regarding professional development, participation in BREAA and the Bay Area commercial real estate community

• ​​Participation in BREAA leadership meetings as a Student Fellow

• ​​In-depth access to the established UC Berkeley real estate alumni network

MSCI strengthens private asset capabilities with acquisition of Real Capital Analytics

• Reinforces commitment to improve transparency in global private asset investing
• Expands robust suite of commercial real estate data, analytics and tools
• MSCI to host a conference call today, August 2, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. ET

NEW YORK – August 2, 2021 – MSCI Inc. (“MSCI” or the “Company”) (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Real Capital Analytics (“RCA”) for $950 million in cash.

Founded in 2000, Real Capital Analytics is a private company and the go-to data and analytics provider of the properties, transactions and participants that drive the commercial real estate capital markets globally. The company has built a sterling reputation within the commercial real estate industry for effectively aggregating timely and reliable transaction data and providing valuable intelligence on market pricing, capital flows and investment trends in more than 170 countries. The most active investors, lenders, brokers and advisors depend on RCA’s unique insight to formulate their strategies, source new opportunities, and execute their deals.

This acquisition will expand MSCI’s robust suite of real estate solutions, providing the real estate industry with data, analytics and support tools to manage investments and understand performance and risk, including climate risk, within their portfolios. MSCI will leverage Real Capital Analytics’ database of more than $20 trillion of commercial property transactions linked to over 200,000 investor and lender profiles, enhancing MSCI’s commercial real estate capabilities.

Henry Fernandez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MSCI, said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Real Capital Analytics. The commercial real estate sector is seeing substantial transformation driven by several factors, including shifting consumer behaviors in work, lifestyle and travel accelerated by the pandemic, realignment in global supply chains, and the impact of climate change. The combined strength of MSCI’s existing data, analytics and tools, and the addition of Real Capital Analytics’ wealth of commercial real estate data and analytics, creates an unparalleled level of solutions for the real estate market. Investors will be better supported to access the opportunities that exist within this sector at scale, informed by industry-leading insights and the premier global database capturing the global commercial real estate footprint.”

Robert M White, Jr., Founder and President of Real Capital Analytics, commented: “MSCI is a natural home for Real Capital Analytics since our primary goal has always been to bridge the information gap between commercial real estate and other asset classes across the financial markets. The combination of the two firms creates a powerful team that will lead innovation and analytics in the real estate asset class well into the future.”

In enhancing MSCI’s commercial real estate capabilities, this acquisition also underscores the firm’s commitment to accelerating and expanding the use of data, analytics and workflow applications for

investors in global private assets. This builds on MSCI’s strategic partnership with Burgiss, a market leading provider of data, analytics and technology solutions for investors of private capital.

The transaction is expected to be funded with existing cash on hand and close at the end of the third

quarter, or early in the fourth quarter, of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing

conditions. Real Capital Analytics’ financial results will be presented as part of MSCI’s All Other – Private Assets reportable segment.

The College of Environmental Design is honored to announce that it has received the largest gift in the college’s history from Nancy R. Abbey and Douglas D. Abbey. The historic donation provides endowed support for the College’s Master of Real Estate Development + Design Program, which has now been renamed as The Nancy and Douglas Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design Program. The $7.5 million gift was acknowledged on December 15, 2020 when UC Berkeley’s Chancellor Carol Christ formally thanked the Abbeys in a virtual celebration along with the college’s leadership and friends of the MRED+D program.

The Abbey gift will enable the College to more rapidly develop and expand the young program, founded in 2018 and currently educating its third cohort of students. The program will continue to push the boundaries of sustainable urbanism and will uphold its stature as one of the best stand-alone real estate development programs in the nation.

While it is common for the naming of a building or college to accompany a philanthropic gift, only a handful of programs have been named in UC Berkeley’s history, making the gift even more unique and impactful.

With their pledge, the Abbeys have committed themselves to the education of future generations of real estate professionals — whose choices, from finance to policy, will shape the future of cities. Of particular importance to both the Abbeys and the program’s founding mission is to prepare students with the tools to address urban sustainability, equity, and resilience. Most important, the Abbey MRED+D Program will continue to educate professionals with expertise in real estate finance, an attribute critical to successful projects from affordable housing to commercial real estate.

Both Nancy and Doug are graduates of UC Berkeley — Nancy is an alumna of the Haas School of Business’ M.B.A program, and Doug is an alumnus of CED’s Master of City and Regional Planning program.

The Abbeys’ dual background, with Doug having crafted his own real estate development program by taking courses across campus, embodies the scope of the MRED+D program. Furthermore, MRED+D supports the real estate industry by advancing CED’s long standing focus on equity and social infrastructure as students learn the fundamentals of finance, economics, market analysis, development law, and more.

The Abbeys’ motivation to provide this support comes from a deep personal commitment to real estate education and the careers of those who will guide the future of our built environment. Doug Abbey observes, “As a student, I combined my planning studies with courses in law and business. Today’s MRED+D program accomplishes what I had to piece together and this pleases me greatly.” Abbey has provided guest lectures and mentored UC Berkeley MRED+D students. “I have gotten to know the MRED+D students, which has been a joy for me personally, and I am deeply impressed by their talents and drive. Nancy and I want to enrich their careers and give back to UC Berkeley and the Bay Area. We are thrilled to accomplish that with our support.”

“This historic gift from Douglas and Nancy Abbey ensures that CED can continue to educate future leaders in building equitable, resilient, and socially responsible communities,” added Vishaan Chakrabarti, dean of the College of Environmental Design. “The Abbeys have dedicated their careers and lives to these values, and we are dedicated to upholding those values as we grow this program in their name.”

Nancy Abbey holds a B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Nancy serves on the Board of the Nantucket Historic Association and on the Advisory Board of Nest, a non-profit organization building a new handworker economy to increase global workforce inclusivity, improve women’s wellbeing, and preserve important cultural traditions around the world. Nancy has served as a board member at the Grabhorn Institute, a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and perpetuate the use of integrated type foundry, bookbinding, and letterpress printing.

Doug Abbey holds a B.A. from Amherst College and a Master’s in City Planning (M.C.P.) from UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design. He is the Chairman of Swift Real Estate Partners, which he joined in 2012. Prior to Swift, Douglas co-founded two investment management organizations: AMB Property Corporation (merged with Prologis: NYSE) in 1983, now the largest global industrial REIT; and IHP Capital Partners, formed in 1992, a provider of equity to the single-family homebuilding industry.

Doug is also a trustee and past vice chairman of the Urban Land Institute and serves as chair of the ULI Foundation and on the board of the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing. Similarly, he serves on the board of BRIDGE Housing, the leading non-profit affordable housing developer on the West Coast with more than 13,000 units under management, founded by I. Donald Terner, for whom the campus’s Terner Center is named. As a former mentee of Don Terner, Doug stewarded the creation of the Terner Prize, a multi-year program that recognizes outstanding affordable housing projects across the country.

Together, Doug and Nancy belong to Builders of Berkeley, Cal’s program to recognize donors who have made gifts during their lifetimes in excess of $1M.

Left: Blair Evans | Right: Riya Luthra

We are thrilled to announce that the winners of the inaugural BREAA Student Fellowships are graduate student Blair Evans & undergraduate student Riya Luthra. Blair & Riya were selected from a stellar group of candidates. Both are exceptional women with promising real estate careers ahead of them.

Please join us in congratulating Blair & Riya!

Blair Evans is a Haas MBA and Interdisciplinary Real Estate Certificate candidate. Blair has leveraged her background in economics and corporate real estate and to take a deeper dive into UC Berkeley’s real estate offerings. She has gained the praise of professors for her outstanding academic record and has built a growing network of peers as Co-President of the Haas Women in Leadership group, Vice President of Academics for the Berkeley Real Estate Club, and as the Haas Soccer Club Co-President. Blair joins BREAA with an unequivocal drive and intellectual curiosity to learn anything and everything about real estate and has made it clear that real estate is her industry of choice. Her work experience at Gap, Inc. and internships at Bridge Partners and Starwood Capital are just the beginning of what is sure to be a promising career in real estate.

Blair hopes to use her time as a BREAA Fellow to connect with the broader Berkeley real estate community of alumni and students and we are excited to welcome her as our inaugural Graduate BREAA Fellow. Following graduation in 2021, Blair hopes to join an institutional real estate firm and something tells us she will have no shortage of offers. In the interim, Blair is hard at work at Haas, including on the 2020 UT Austin National Real Estate Competition. We wish her and the team the best a luck and another Cal win!

Riya Luthra is a Haas School of Business Undergraduate pursuing a Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Real Estate and a Minor in City Planning. From the beginning of her UC Berkeley tenure, Riya has been dedicated to the Berkeley Real Estate community since joining the Undergraduate Real Estate Club (UREC) in her first semester where she now serves as the club’s Co-President. As a first-generation college student, she has already made impressive strides in academia and is celebrated by her professors and mentors, all while balancing impressive internships at Cushman & Wakefield, DivcoWest, and Hines. With her added experience as Student Ambassador for the ULI’s Women’s Leadership Initiative Committee and her California Real Estate Agent License, it’s clear Riya has an incredibly bright future in real estate, and we are excited to welcome her to BREAA.

Upon graduation in 2022, Riya is hoping to pursue a career in real estate investment and eventually launch her own investment team. As a BREAA Fellow, Riya is seeking to expand her network, build lasting relationships, and find mentors within the Berkeley Real Estate community to further her career aspirations. However, given Riya’s resume…she could mentor us on a few things too!

The inaugural BREAA Student Fellowship is generously sponsored by Perkins + Will, Bill Falik, Bob Lalanne and Alice Devine. Please contact a BREAA Board Member if you would like to join this generous group in supporting future student fellowships.

FELLOWSHIP COMPONENTS

• $3,000 Tuition Award
• ​​Reimbursement for real estate-related educational programming, training, professional development and industry memberships
• ​​Registration to all BREAA events
• ​​Mentorship by an industry professional who will advise and provide guidance regarding professional development, participation in BREAA and the Bay Area commercial real estate community
• ​​Participation in BREAA leadership meetings as a Student Fellow
• ​​In-depth access to the established UC Berkeley real estate alumni network

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