Winning First, with a Design Built to Last
In designing a development for a small mountain town, MBAs blended creativity, local engagement and lessons from the CU Real Estate Center
Anyone can create a development. The bigger challenge is creating a community.
Marigold Partnersâa Leeds student team in NAIOPâs annual Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challengeâwon this yearâs competition not only thanks to their real estate and business smarts, but because of their willingness to engage the host town of Minturn to build something that reflected the character of what its mayor calls âa proud, funky mountain town.â
Each of the studentsâJesĂșs Bañuelos-Rivera, Erika Vette, Joe Plastino, Paula Chavarria, Kyle Clinton and Simon Egertonâcompleted a masterâs or MBA in real estate this spring. The team was selected to represent the university in the NAIOP challenge; Marigold Partners bested a team from the University of Denver to win top honors.
âThis competition shows our students that their lessons arenât just theoreticalâthat, in fact, a holistic approach is required in creatively solving problems and bringing newÌędevelopments online,â said Michael P. Kercheval, executive director of the CU Real Estate Center. âIâm extremely proud of our students for putting together such anÌęimpressive project.â
Through the center, and their own networks, the students were able to tap other resources, as wellâarchitects, financing experts, retailers and so onâallowing them to create an idyllic community centered around sustainability, authenticity and environmental responsibility.
Ìę
