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[Greg Johnson] Commercial real estate is a raw material for the entire economy so there’s
no part of the economy that isn’t supported by real estate.
[Jim Reinhardsen] The question of what are the opportunities is clearly the question
of our moment in this economy. It’s become more competitive. It’s put more pressure
on people to take what they’re doing even more seriously, to question their business
models or their careers, to question how they do what they do.
[Nathan Torgelson] One of the main projects or responsibilities in the class is to form
into a team and to design a real estate project so to select a real site in the Seattle area
and to design the project from an architect’s perspective and to put together the financing,
a pro forma, to do the marketing, the background market research, and then to present that
project to the class, and to a real live team of potential equity investors.
[Jim Reinhardsen] The instructors in this program I would describe them as kind of best
in class, from every discipline so they’re architects, they’re developers, they’re
attorneys, they’re capital markets people.
[Pat Foley] That’s why we say that this is an interdisciplinary process; you really
have to have a good understanding and knowledge base of all of the skills related to the business.
[Nathan Torgelson] One of the most valuable pieces of the class for me was the networking
opportunities and really getting to know the people in the class. Spent nine months with
these people and worked with them twice a week, and formed some great friendships and
I’m still in touch with a lot of these people.
[Greg Johnson] Any background that touches real estate in anyway so that can be a banker,
it could be a real estate broker, it could be an architect, it could be an engineer.
In many cases, people just with a very strong interest and passion for the industry have
done well in the program.
[Jim Reinhardsen] Some are seeking to change jobs, but in most cases they’re simply trying
to become better at what they do by being part of a program that looks at real estate
issues through many lenses and many perspectives.
[Greg Johnson] Since I started teaching eight years ago on a regular basis, I have run into
graduates from the program who have gone on to be working in some phase of the real estate
business, particularly here in Seattle and in the region. They’ve all either, stayed
in their profession and broadened their skills and become more effective, or they’ve used
it as a tool to move to some other position in the industry.
[Nathan Torgelson] I would highly recommend the class to anyone who was interested. It’s
a pretty big time commitment but again it’s a one year certificate program so it’s very
doable and I just found it energized me, and just gave me a lot of enthusiasm for my professional
life.