April 7: Real Estate and Housing students launch case competition

Real Estate and Housing (REH) students launched the first annual Undergraduate Real Estate Competition (URECC) last week, the first competition of its kind in Canada where undergraduate real estate students present development proposals for real properties. This year’s property was Toronto’s Mirvish Village, former home to landmark discount store, Honest Ed’s.

Led by the Real Estate & Housing Students’ Association (REHSA), under the advisement of professor Avis Devine, who also acted as a judge, four groups of students presented their ideas to a panel of industry leaders: Michael Emory, president and CEO of Allied Properties REIT, Ian Duke from Westbank Properties, the developer that purchased Mirvish Village, and John Arnoldi from Colliers International, the broker of the Mirvish Village sale.

“This competitive real estate development format gives the students the opportunity to utilize all the skills and knowledge they've acquired over their time at the University of Guelph,” said Devine. “They take a development project from inception, through market research, design, planning, financial analysis, construction scheduling, and into stabilized operations, all the while considering the effects on the city, the local community, and the developer.”

The top two groups received cash prizes with the first place team also receiving the coveted “golden shovel.” This year’s winners were Cole Marchand, Allison Gilks, Brittney Finch and Hillary Kerkvliet from Team Gamma.

"URECC provided us with a great opportunity to apply the knowledge we acquired from the REH program to a real world setting,” said Team Gamma. “We were extremely honoured to present our development proposal to a panel of acclaimed industry professionals whose input was greatly valued. The overall experience was a rewarding way to conclude our undergraduate degrees."

While this year’s event was held locally, REHSA has a vision to expand the competition to an international level by 2017, welcoming top real estate talent from around the world to Toronto to compete on the development of a Canadian site.

"We plan to use URECC as an opportunity to bring value to the real estate industry and showcase the international competitiveness of Guelph Real Estate while building a global network, international prestige and the recognition that comes with it," said Dan Foch, REHSA president.

URECC is currently seeking corporate partners to support the competition’s expansion. For more information, visit the URECC website. Read more on the first annual URECC on Inside Toronto's website.