Reston, VA is the Focus of 2009 Capstone Course
In their final semester, the Program in Real Estate students are challenged to apply that which they have learned with a real-world development project. Working in teams over duration of the semester, the course tests the students with market studies, design concepts, financial projections, and scheduling assumptions to arrive at a final project that is a complete development prospectus. The Project Workshop course, commonly called Capstone, is taught for the second year by Mark Foerster, Executive Vice President of Northern Capital Group who was last year’s appointed Olson Faculty Fellow recipient. Joining Mr. Foerster, is architect Anton R. Christiansen, a principal with the Ithaca based Holt Architects which focuses on healthcare planning and design.
This year’s site is a 22-acre property in Reston, Virginia is located adjacent to the Dulles Toll Road, connecting Dulles International Airport and Washington, DC. The property is situated between Reston Town center and a planned Metro stop that is to connect Dulles airport, Tyson’s Corner and downtown Washington. The metro station will be constructed on the median of the Toll Road and is assumed to be completed by the year 2015. This future potential for transit oriented development spurs current thoughts of how to develop the currently underutilized and only partially build out site. The property owner Boston Properties, a publically traded REIT, is interested in engaging the Cornell the students to stimulate possible future development ideas that can meet both their investment goals and the aspirations of the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan for a mixed use, transit-oriented development which will be the literal and figurative gateway to Reston Town Center as accessed via the new metro station.
Working in teams of five to six persons, the students are given the freedom to determine the land’s market opportunity after which they derive a hypothetical program reflecting their ideas of highest and best use for the site. The five teams will propose their version of transit oriented mixed-use programs with varying combinations of hotel, office, retail and residential structures. The scope of the project provides the students with flexibility in terms of design and real estate product type. The program is then illustrated and detailed with schematic drawings, plans, sections and massing models to demonstrate the quality of place that is being proposed. Cost and investment opportunities are detailed in tandem with the site design.
At the beginning of the semester, the class traveled to Reston to conduct market research and hear presentations from local market experts to inform their development decisions. John MaClain, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director at the Center for Regional Analysis at the George Mason University of Public Policy addressed the evolution of the Washington D.C. economy and the future outlook for the area economy; followed by seven speeches of local market experts and regional representatives. Amongst these presenters was Patricia Nicoson, the President of Dulles Corridor Rail Association, to introduce the current status of the metro line project.
Class participant John Norwood commented on the benefits of the course, saying, “One of the things I appreciate about the Capstone course is the way Foerster takes a hands-off approach to teaching, providing us with both information and guidance, while allowing us to shape our own visions for the site. Furthermore, the course allows us to have a very real impact on the actual project as Boston Properties is still formulating and rethinking their own development strategy.”
A trademark of the course is collaboration between design students and the graduating PRE seniors. Recognizing that architecture and real estate development are closely linked in the real world, the class serves as a laboratory for discovering how to effectively communicate between these two groups of professionals.
Mark Foerster is Executive Vice President of Northern Capital Group, Inc., a real estate investment, management and development company based in Rochester, New York. From June, 2005 through May, 2007, he was Executive Vice President of Macerich East Development, LLC, Macerich’s east coast development affiliate. Currently, he is also the interim CEO of the Farash Corporation, a Rochester-based corporation that owns 5,000 apartment units and 400,000 square feet of commercial space in New York and Florida.
Anton Christiansen has more than eighteen years of professional architectural experience. A designer for HOLT since 1990, Anton combines outstanding design capabilities with insights into innovative, sensitive and effective solutions. He is a principal with the firm, and a LEED accredited professional. Anton is strongly committed to the study and implementation of sustainability, having spent time studying the European approach to sustainability in Munich, Germany.