Center studies real estate

Members of Orange County’s business community can expect UC Irvine to

become a bigger part of the real estate scene if the evolution of the

school’s Center for Real Estate goes as planned.

The center’s creation was announced in June. The center is part of

UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, and according to school

officials, more than $1.5 million has already been donated to it.

One of the center’s founding donors is Robert Campbell, president

of the Newport Beach-based CT Realty Corp., who believes there is a

strong need for it.

“We should have had it years ago,” Campbell said.

The Center for Real Estate’s program will be substantially

different from UCI’s existing course offerings in real estate,

according to Andy Policano, the business school dean.

Whereas the business school’s classes are primarily of interest to

students studying for careers in real estate, plans call for the new

center to produce research that will be used by people who are

already working in real estate and related fields.

Policano expects faculty members to work with the center to

analyze industry trends, such as projecting what kinds of changes

real estate markets will undergo in a five-year period.

Private-sector firms could incorporate UCI analyses into their

strategic plans.

“Companies today really think about maintaining a sustained rate

of growth over a long period of time,” Policano said.

G. Christopher Davis, the real estate management program director

at UC Irvine, said one example of the kind of issue that center

researchers would look at is the trend toward high-rise residential

developments in Orange County. Faculty members could potentially try

to figure out how much of a market exists for that kind of

development.

“How deep is it? We don’t know,” Davis said.

Campbell said he expects real estate companies around the county

will use UCI research.

The school has appointed University of Wisconsin-Madison professor

Kerry Vandell to lead the center. Vandell is expected to start at

UCI in June 2006.

Vandell said he looks forward to center faculty taking on a

spectrum of projects that range from purely academic research to

consulting jobs for private companies.

“It’s my expectation that the center will have a fairly close

working relationship with the professional community, yet the folks

at the center will still be academic,” Vandell said, adding that he

plans to keep a distinct line between scholarly research and any

contracted work center faculty may undertake.

“We want to be comprehensive,” Policano said. “It’s going to

involve the commercial side, residential side, developers, brokers.”

Vandell said the business school’s Real Estate Management

Breakfast Series and annual luncheons will continue as the center

evolves. He also expects more events will be held in the future.

“It’s anticipated that we would develop other conferences that

would focus on broader policy topics,” Vandell said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

[email protected].