Our Columbia Business School team comprised of 1st and 2nd year Real Estate Students Dilan Badshah ’27, Ben Curry ’27, Dalton Redmon ’27, Dominica Wambold ’26, and Wenjia Zheng ’26 had the privilege of competing in the Kellogg Real Estate Venture Competition in Chicago, where we placed second with our proposal, The Southampton Guardian, a 100-unit, mixed-income rental development on faith-owned land in Southampton, NY designed to address the Hamptons' critical workforce housing shortage. Preparing for the competition pushed us to pressure-test every dimension of the deal, from LIHTC structuring and PILOT negotiations to community engagement strategy. Presenting before experienced judges sharpened how we communicate risk-adjusted returns alongside social impact. We were impressed by the caliber of teams across the field, including the first-place Kellogg team whose pitch centered on industrial outdoor storage, a reminder of how diverse the opportunity set in real estate can be. Beyond the competition itself, the event gave us exposure to Chicago's real estate landscape, including several sport venue-anchored developments that illustrated how large-scale projects can re shape surrounding neighborhoods and unlock new asset classes. We're grateful to the Shores Family Real Estate Fundand the Paul Milstein Center for the support that made this experience possible. The competition strengthened both our technical skills and our conviction that workforce housing is an investable thesis with real scalability.