Team Marquette who competed in the NAIOP Minnesota Real Estate Challenge standing with the trophy and check.
Two teams of Marquette’s real estate students won major regional competitions last week, the first time Marquette has won both competitions in the same year.
The NAIOP Minnesota Real Estate Challenge took place Thursday, April 21, with Marquette taking first place after taking the lead in the preliminary round earlier in the day. The final presentation was held in front of the members’ NAIOP Minnesota branch, with over 200 professionals in attendance to witness their development proposal for a plot of land in Shoreview, Minnesota.
Two days later, the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation’s real estate competition took place in downtown Chicago at Wintrust’s Great Hall, where nearly 100 real estate professionals attended to witness Marquette take top honors in the bachelor’s division. The team submitted a proposal to redevelop a site in the West Loop of Chicago where Johnny’s Ice House, ice hockey rink, training facility and bar are located.
The NAIOP Minnesota student team consisted of seniors Catherine Boczyk (team leader), Michael Jensen, William Powers, and Madeline Warren. The Eisenberg Foundation student team included Jane Eaton (team captain), George Heckel, Jennifer Sims and Daniel Tallar.
The Marquette team that competed in the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation real estate competition with the trophy.
Both teams are led by Abiola (Michael) Addituro, a business school finance practice teacher, who teaches a course on these competitions called REAL 4330 – Advanced Real Estate Analysis. Adetoro is also a 2015 graduate of the prestigious Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) Training Program.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our students,” Adetoro said. “They worked as a team without arrogance, took feedback constructively, were constantly asking questions and making adjustments that would make their projects better. Most importantly, they were willing to risk ideas, and they took the time to understand the community and craft a story that met the needs of all stakeholders. They deservedly Definitely the feeling of winning in these competitions.”
Marquette teams have done historically well in these competitions, including previously winning the NAIOP Minnesota competition five times (2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020) and the Eisenberg Chicago competition three times (2012, 2018, 2019). Teams have been runners-up an additional eight times combined between the two competitions.
“The ability to participate in a ‘real-world’ experience like this while in college is the highlight of our team’s classroom,” Boczek said. “Regardless of the outcome, we have already won from the relationships formed and the experiences gained.”
Both student teams will be honored at the Real Estate Center’s 11th Annual Real Estate Strategy Conference on Wednesday, May 4th. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 12 noon in the AMU Ballrooms.
Marquette University Real Estate Center
The mission of the Center for Real Estate (“CRE”) is to support students of real estate at Marquette University by providing deep learning experiences that prepare them for a fulfilling and successful life. Founded by 45 generous donors in 2008, CRE has had an employment rate of nearly 100 percent for full-time graduates each year since 2012. CRE continues to support partners in the Commercial Real Estate Training Program for BIPOC Individuals in Southeast Wisconsin, which was founded in Marquette in 2004. In 2021, CRE founded the Real Estate Asset Program (REAP), the nation’s first semester-only undergraduate real estate investment program where students analyze, view and manage real estate investment deals as part of a $2 million equity fund US dollars by a group of investment committee members.
For more information on The Real Estate Center, please contact Andy Hunt, Director of The Viet Real Estate Centre, at [email protected].