Brian McKinley Selected as Student Agencies, Inc. Real Estate Fellow
Student Agencies, Inc. (SAI) has selected Brian McKinley (MPS/RE ’12) as the inaugural Program in Real Estate/Student Agencies Real Estate Fellow. The fellowship will allow SAI to take a more sophisticated look at their real estate portfolio and provide the ability to make more informed strategic decisions going forward.
McKinley will be responsible for a variety of projects related to managing and evaluating SAI’s real estate holdings, and will also be part of a team overseeing the undergraduate real estate manager. SAI’s primary endowment consists of mixed-use real estate located directly on College Avenue with notable tenants including Collegetown Bagels, Rulloff’s, and Wilson Farms. Collectively, the buildings also house 17 student apartments and 2 floors of office space leased to Cornell University.
“We are very enthused about this collaboration between Student Agencies and Cornell’s Masters in Real Estate Program,” said Dan Kathan, CEO of SAI, adding “(SAI) proposed the position because of the expertise that we believe the Program in Real Estate can offer, and because we believe it can benefit students in both programs.” SAI’s mixed-use real estate provides a wide range of real world issues for the fellows to evaluate and consult on and SAI’s undergraduate student assistants can have a richer learning experience as a result of the guidance and support they will receive from the PRE Fellow, Kathan commented.
A first year student in the Cornell Program in Real Estate, McKinley previously operated McKinley Energy Resources, LLC, an energy efficiency and renewable energy project management company based in Massachusetts. As a former Director and Senior Energy Analyst of the Georgia Tech Student Foundation Investment Committee, McKinley also brings with him experience in managing a student run endowment.
“I am excited about the opportunity to apply what I have learned in the classroom as well as knowledge I have from previous experience to enhance the value of SAI’s real estate portfolio,” said McKinley, adding “I look forward to creating a measurable impact on both the endowment and the SAI team members.”
SAI is America’s oldest independent student-run organization and has been in existence since 1894. Their primary mission is to offer Cornell undergraduate students hands-on business management experience. Employing over 200 undergraduates SAI is the second largest employer of students in the Ithaca area after Cornell.
“We are excited about the Partnership and the opportunity to help guide Student Agencies real estate activities through the Program’s research and consulting resources,” said David Funk, Director of the Cornell Program in Real Estate, adding that the Program hopes to provide one or two Fellows a year to insure continuity to the position.