The Capstone: Real Estate Investment course provides students who intend on pursuing careers in real estate the opportunity to learn how to design and execute projects of professional scope and quality under the guidance of an experienced professor and a specific company sponsor. The course includes instruction in project design, scoping, strategy, research, and execution. Presentation skills both oral and written are integral to the course and project.
Student groups, usually consisting of three to four students, work with an outside project sponsor to create a project presentation based on a current, real-world sponsor need.
Course Prerequisites
Students wishing to enroll in Private Equity must have taken Corporate Finance (B6300) and Real Estate Finance (B8331), and either Real Estate Transactions (B8332) or have at least 1-year experience of real estate/transactions experience with instructor's permission.
Final Presentations & The Alexander Bodini Foundation Prize Competition
Students explore entrepreneurial real estate opportunities through this Capstone course. In the class, students work on group projects with industry sponsors. Under the founding idea of the competition, students working in groups are given an opportunity to take the kernel of an idea, develop it into a comprehensive business plan, and make an oral presentation of the plan to their class. Through their participation, students enhance their research, problem-solving, team work, and presentation skills.
Class participants present their plans to a group of senior professionals, faculty members, members of the Real Estate Circle, alumni, mentors, and peers. The Real Estate Private Equity Final Presentation event is followed by a reception and awards ceremony. Cash prizes are awarded to top-scoring plans as judged by a panel of Columbia Business School alumni and real estate practitioners. Some winners take their plans on to further success, additional funding, or mentoring. Students may also explore the annual Columbia Shark Tank Competition through the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School.
Special thanks to Ambassador Daniele D. Bodini '72, who generously sponsors the annual business plan competition, and to Sheldon Seevak, for initiating the program.
Get Involved as a Project Sponsor
If your company is interested in sponsoring a project for this course, please contact:
Angela E. Lee
Senior Associate Director
[email protected]
