2013 John S. Long Outstanding Student in Real Estate Award
Tim Kawahara, Executive Director, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate

The Ziman Center is pleased to announce that the 2013 recipient of the John S. Long Outstanding Student in Real Estate Award is Alexander J. Valente. Alex, UCLA Anderson FEMBA '13, has enthusiastically tackled every realm of the real estate program and student experience at Anderson. He has been a tireless champion of Anderson, Ziman Center programs and AREA's real estate student constituents.

Alex was the first FEMBA student to be elected as Board President of the Anderson Real Estate Association (AREA). In addition to his AREA 2012/2013 presidency, he participated in the Anderson Student Council as a FEMBA liaison, created a FEMBA student tutoring bank and was chosen as FEMBA's distinguished student commencement speaker at the June 14, 2013 UCLA Anderson FEMBA graduation ceremony. In 2013, Alex also joined the Trammell Crow Company as a Senior Associate in their Development and Investment Group. Alex's dedication and accomplishments perfectly embody the spirit of the John S. Long Outstanding Student in Real Estate Award, and we wish him continued success in his post-Anderson ventures.

About the John Long Outstanding Student in Real Estate Award
This award recognizes the UCLA Anderson MBA candidate in each class who has demonstrated and exercised the qualities required to become an influential leader in the industry. The award is not based purely on Academic performance or industry involvement, but on the student's commitment and contribution to the strength and the reputation of the UCLA Real Estate Program at Anderson and throughout the University. The recipient is recognized by the committee, as well as his or her peers, as someone whose Anderson career has been distinguished by action, commitment, and the pursuit of excellence, both in individual endeavors and on behalf of the Anderson Real Estate Program.

This prestigious award is named for John S. Long, the Founding Chairman of the Ziman Center's Board. The criteria by which the winner is selected are designed to reflect John's own leadership style.  John Long is President and CEO of Highridge Partners, Inc., which he founded in 1978. The company has been so successful that John's views are seen as a bellwether of the real estate industry to this day. Notwithstanding his tremendous success, John is known as someone who flies largely under the radar, relying upon fundamental principles, rigorous analysis, and investing discipline, and avoiding the public notoriety that seems to follow other large players in the industry.

UCLA Anderson and Peter M. Bren Launch Capstone Real Estate Course
By Christopher J. Brandt, UCLA Anderson MBA Class of 2013, Peter Bren 2012/2013 Distinguished Fellow in Entrepreneurial Real Estate; and Alexander J. Valente, UCLA Anderson FEMBA Class of 2013

Months of planning came to fruition on the evening of Tuesday, April 2nd with the launch of UCLA Anderson's capstone real estate course: Advanced Cases in Real Estate Entrepreneurship.  This advanced MBA course is the newest addition to UCLA Anderson's rapidly expanding real estate curriculum, and was made possible thanks to the Peter Bren Initiative for Real Estate Entrepreneurial Studies at UCLA.

UCLA Anderson Professor Eric Sussman and his MBA students were honored to have Peter M. Bren, Chairman and President of KBS Realty and Ziman Center Founding Board member, introduce and kick-off the first session with distinguished guest speakers Rick J. Caruso, Founder and CEO of Caruso Affiliated, and Paul J. Kurzawa, Caruso's COO.

Mr. Caruso shared his personal story of real estate entrepreneurship, from sale-leasebacks of rental car parking lots in the early days, to some of the most high-profile retail, mixed-use, and hospitality projects in the country today.  Paul Kurzawa presented a summary of Caruso Affiliated's holdings and an overview of their value-proposition.  Paul noted that Caruso Affiliated places a large emphasis on "time" - as in conserving and valuing time for all guests - by offering a one-stop shopping experience with full amenities and concierge services.

Both Mr. Caruso and Mr. Kurzawa answered questions from the students regarding their corporate strategy.  Marisa Levi, UCLA Anderson MBA '13, asked Rick what he paid the most attention to as his company continues to expand and his time and energy become more spread out.  Rick answered that he continues to stay very involved with issues pertaining to entitlements, financing, and leasing.  Rick also added that he loves staying connected to the "vision-side" of each development.  The Friday immediately following the class, Mr. Caruso and Mr. Kurzawa arranged a behind-the-scenes guided tour of their Americana at Brand project in Glendale.

Professor Sussman and his UCLA Anderson MBA students are energized by the quality of the Advanced Cases in Real Estate Entrepreneurship course syllabus, and eager to learn more from top real estate industry entrepreneurs over the coming months.


KBS' Peter M. Bren Will Address UCLA Anderson 2013 EMBA Graduating Class

LOS ANGELES (April 10, 2013) - UCLA Anderson School of Management announced that Peter M. Bren, Chairman and President of KBS Realty Advisors and its affiliate KBS Capital Advisors, will deliver the commencement address to this year's EMBA graduates. The ceremony will take place on July 27, 2013, at 3:00 pm in Royce Hall.

Mr. Bren has been involved exclusively in real estate development, management, acquisition, disposition and financing for more than 40 years. In his current position, he oversees all KBS operations, including the acquisition and management of individual investments and portfolios of income-producing real estate assets. He directs all facets of the company's business activities, maintains responsibility for investor relationships, and serves as a member of the KBS Investment Committee, which evaluates and authorizes new investment opportunities for the firm. KBS was recently ranked the largest office investor in the nation by Commercial Property Executive, and the fifth largest office owner globally by National Real Estate Investor. KBS, with transactional volume of approximately $30 billion, operates numerous institutional and sovereign wealth funds as well as five non-traded REITs.

Mr. Bren is president of KBS REIT, KBS REIT II and KBS REIT III - all public, non-listed real estate investment trusts. Additionally, he is involved with the management of two additional REITs - KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT, targeting opportunistic investments, and KBS Legacy Partners Apartment REIT, which focuses on the multifamily sector.

Mr. Bren previously served as the president of The Bren Company, was a former regional partner of Lincoln Property Company and was president of Lincoln Property Company, Europe. He is a member of the UCLA Anderson Board of Visitors and a founding member of The Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he has also created and funded The Peter M. Bren Real Estate Entrepreneurship Studies Initiative. Additionally, Mr. Bren is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable, Washington, DC, which addresses key national policy issues affecting real estate and the overall economy.

"As one of the icons of the real estate industry, Peter demonstrates his entrepreneurial flair and accomplishments every day," said Judy Olian, Dean and John E. Anderson Chair of UCLA Anderson School of Management.  "He has also been a creative force in driving real estate curricula here at Anderson, as a member of our Board of Visitors, a benefactor, and a mentor to many of our students."


UCLA Anderson Announces 2013-2014 AMR Program

Since 1967, UCLA Anderson's Applied Management Research (AMR) Program has partnered MBA student teams with executives from more than 3,000 organizations around the world. These teams deliver strategic solutions to companies through an experiential learning process with the quality of professional consultants. Various clients have included Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, microfinance institutions, and start-up companies located in our Southern California backyard or as far away as Santiago or Prague.

AMR serves as the capstone course for Anderson's second-year MBA students. Each year, 75 teams of five students spend 20 weeks completing an in-depth strategic study in partnership with an organization's management. Each team works closely with a faculty advisor who coaches and guides the students in their work with the organization. The final product is a written and oral strategic implementation recommendation. UCLA Anderson's AMR teams have helped organizations prepare a comprehensive business plan, explore new business opportunities, launch new products, explore new markets for existing products, develop pricing strategies, improve managerial effectiveness, create effective marketing campaigns, and much more, including:

• Risk assessment
• Operations analysis
• Financial modeling
• Strategic human resource planning
• Valuation strategy and structure
• New product development
• New market entry strategy
• Distribution channel analysis

UCLA Anderson faculty and students take pride in this important partnership with the business community and invite you to take a closer look at the extraordinary benefits available to your organization through UCLA Anderson's 2013-2014 AMR Program. For more information or to apply, click here or download the flyer (PDF).


UCLA Ziman Center and UCLA Anderson Annual 2013 Real Estate Industry Night
By Alexander J. Valente, UCLA Anderson FEMBA Class of 2013

UCLA Anderson Real Estate Association's (AREA) annual Industry Night was held on the evening of February 27th, 2013, at the Grand Horizon Ballroom in Covel Commons on UCLA's campus. This year's event marks the most successful and well-attended Industry Night for AREA.  Nearly, 100 company representatives were in attendance to network and potentially hire students from the various programs at UCLA Anderson (full-time MBA, FEMBA and EMBA) as well as the UCLA Law School.
 
Special guest, Wayne Ratkovich, President and CEO of The Ratkovich Company, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer, served as the keynote speaker and shared inspiring words with the audience about his start in real estate and some of the projects that he is currently working on.  Additionally, he spoke at length about the importance of integrity and fighting for one's reputation to have a successful career in commercial real estate.  Wayne highlighted the amazing tools available to today's MBA graduates in terms of financial modeling, but he cautioned that successful developers must also rely on their instincts and not simply look backwards to see what has been done, but look forward to see what can be done.

AREA sincerely thanks Wayne Ratkovich for his generosity, and all of the UCLA Anderson students, alumni, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate staff, and companies that sponsored and participated in Industry Night. The event was a tremendous success, and the AREA student organization is excited about the achievements and growth of the UCLA real estate program.


Team Victory for UCLA at the 2013 UNC Real Estate Development Challenge
By Elizabeth E. Jensen, UCLA Anderson MBA Class of 2014

On February 14-15, four first-year MBA students represented the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and the UCLA Anderson School of Management at the 2013 UNC Real Estate Challenge case competition in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. UCLA Anderson students Elizabeth Jensen, Michael Machado, Jonathan Paul, and Daniel Nagel brought home 3rd place in a tough competition with 15 of the top-20 business schools around world, including UNC Kenan Flagler, Columbia, Tuck, USC, Cornell, LBS, Vanderbilt, Kellogg, Booth, UT McCombs and Duke.

Student teams were given one week to create and present an acquisition and development plan for a 130+ Acre site in the East-End Neighborhood of Houston along the Buffalo Bayou waterfront. The UCLA team's proposal consisted of purchasing and developing the property in two phases. The first stage of the development focused on walkable urbanism by creating a mixed-use environment consisting of market-rate and affordable multi-family, new retail including a grocery anchored shopping center and YMCA. The second phase of the development focused on Commercial Office space, as well as building a park along the water with an Amphitheater to provide a destination space in the urban community.


Pircher, Nichols & Meeks 2013 Real Estate Transactions Competition
By Evan P. Grant, UCLA Law Class of 2013

Students from the UCLA School of Law and the UCLA Anderson School of Management teamed up to complete a simulated joint venture real estate deal prepared by Phillip G. Nichols, a founder of Pircher, Nichols & Meeks. Several teams of three to four students worked through both legal and business issues to prepare a professional memorandum answering numerous questions posed by a hypothetical general counsel and investment partner. After working through the fact pattern, the teams submitted their responses for review by Nichols and Kevork Zoryan, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley.

On February 8th, Nichols and Zoryan presented a model answer to students and announced the winners of first, second, and third prize based on the most comprehensive and correct answers to the questions presented.  During the presentation, Nichols and Zoryan shared their knowledge of the field and provided insights applicable to the hypothetical deal and beyond.  

The Pircher, Nichols & Meeks Real Estate Transactions Competition was organized by the UCLA Real Estate Law Association (RELA) and co-sponsored by the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law. The competition provided an opportunity for law and business students to gain valuable experience working together. The students were also exposed to the complex nature of joint venture transactions and the many issues that must be addressed either as an attorney or businessperson when evaluating such a deal.

First Place - Team 7:
Daniel Nagel, UCLA Anderson MBA, 2014
Nathan Davis, UCLA Law, 2013
Sarot Srisitinam, UCLA Anderson MBA, 2014

Second Place - Team 4:
Tim Najera, UCLA Law, JD/MBA, 2013
Alex Valente, UCLA Anderson, FEMBA, 2013
Amir Sadr, UCLA Law, 2014
Aaron Eshaghian, UCLA Law, 2013

Third Place - Team 10:
Ross Giglio, UCLA Anderson MBA, 2014
Josh Zierton, UCLA Anderson MBA, 2014
Blake Lawless, UCLA Law, 2014