Program in Real Estate 2011 Capstone Course Chooses DC Site
In their final semester, Program in Real Estate students complete a real-world development project. The Project Workshop course, commonly called Capstone, involves working in teams over the duration of the semester much like the Residential Development course taken in during the second semester. Students create market studies, design concepts, financial projections, and scheduling assumptions to arrive at a final project that is a complete development prospectus.
This year’s site is in Wheaton Maryland. Wheaton is a large, urbanized, and unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland. Part of the Washington, DC metro area, Wheaton is located two miles north of the I-495 Beltway and is on the Metrorail Red Line. Characterized as diverse and “funky,” Wheaton aspires for a re-development of its downtown core into a walkable, livable center, with a mix of uses, and dense, transit oriented development. In doing so, the County and community stakeholders aspire to achieve some of the successes that are seen in nearby places like Silver Spring (to the south) and Bethesda (to the west), while preserving the unique character of Wheaton.
Balancing the above goals with market realities will be a challenge. To this end, the County and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority have hired the BF Saul Company to re-develop several key properties in the downtown area. The company has hired an outstanding team of architects and other consultants to assist it in formulating a redevelopment concept and plan. Running in a parallel path to these efforts, BF Saul has also requested guidance and analysis from Cornell real estate and design teams about downtown redevelopment ideas. This assignment will provide the Cornell teams with a great opportunity to work with an excellent client, and to consider strategies about how to best create a “live/work/play” environment within an existing urban context.
According to Giovanni Graziano, PRE 2011, “the selected site, the type of development being considered and the early stage of the actual project provides us with a tremendous learning experience. We have an opportunity to make a difference in a real project, while having the freedom and resources provided by academia. Needless to say, I am excited by the opportunity and grateful to the organizers.”
The course is taught by Mark Foerster, Executive Vice President of Northern Capital Group, a real estate investment, management and development company based in Rochester, New York. Past projects include a Boston Properties owned-site in Reston, VA and a Macerich owned-site in Tysons Corner, VA. Earlier sites also included an 8.5 acre site owned by The Akridge Company and a 4.0 acre site owned by William C. Smith & Company, both located in the Capitol Riverfront/Navy Yard area of Washington. According to Mr.Foerster, “we are delighted to be working with the BF Saul Company, and to have the opportunity to be part of a “live” process that will ultimately transform downtown Wheaton by creating a walkable urban place at its center. This will be a great learning experience for us, and at the same time, we fully expect that each of our six real estate and design teams will add value to what BF Saul and its public partners are considering for a new development.”
Mr. Foerster is joined by Isabel Fernandez. Ms. Fernandez is a Landscape Architect and Urban Designer.