Real Estate Challenge

The HEEF Midwest Real Estate Challenge was designed to provide students with a hands-on opportunity to apply what they are learning in their university courses to the real working world of real estate. Each team is paired with volunteer advisors, all of whom are leading Chicago real estate professionals. The student teams are challenged to create a development plan for a particular site. The teams, along with their advisors, determine what should be built on the property and provide a full analysis explaining their building plan as well as the effects their plan would have on the community.

The winning plan is the most economically viable and most complementary to the unique uses of the surrounding site. The teams’ presentations are judged by a panel of professionals.

The winning team’s university is awarded a $4,000 scholarship. In addition, the winning team receives a trophy and recognition at HEEF’s Annual Dinner, which attracts nearly 500 of the nation’s real estate executives.

The 2011 Real Estate Challenge focused on the former Cabrini-Green public housing projects in Chicago and was won by the team from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, comprised of students Matt Lesh, Kyle Pietila, Briana Dunne, Connor Matthews, Cheng Wang, Jenna Goebig and Taylor Douell.

The competition was judged by Thomas A. Corfman, Assistant Managing Editor at Crain’s Chicago Business, Linda Brace, Vice President of Real Estate Development at Mercy Housing Lakefront, and Laurel Lipkin, Principal of LL Consulting.