One of the most unique and exciting competitions in the realm of urban development is the annual Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge. The challenge is organized by the Colorado chapter of NAIOP, the nation’s premier commercial real estate development association.
Each year, the real estate development program at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business faces off against its counterpart at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business over a particularly complex real estate development scenario. Over the past couple of months, several student teams within each program have battled over who gets the right to represent their university in the final competition. The two finalist teams are now set, with the final competition presentations and judging coming up on May 5 at the Marriott City Center in Downtown.
This year, the City and County of Denver is the client, and they have asked the teams to explore redevelopment opportunities in the Denver Coliseum/River North area. With various industrial and railroad uses, an interstate highway, the Platte River, old and new infrastructure, surface parking lots, a future FasTracks transit station, and the Coliseum itself all clustered into this emerging district north of Downtown, the students definitely have their work cut out for them. Their challenge: come up with an exciting and viable development project based on intense research, financial analysis, and physical design, and present their proposal before a big crowd of commercial real estate development professionals. No sweat.
For more on the rules to the challenge and background information on the site, view this PDF that was issued to the student teams. Want to attend the final presentations on May 5? You can get all the program details and register using this form or online at the NAIOP website.
After May 5, the DenverInfill Blog will present the presentations from the two student teams. Best of luck to both schools!
