Kelley School real estate center expands offerings to IUPUI campus

Students at the Kelley School of Business on IUPUI’s campus will have more options, beginning this year, when it comes to learning about commercial real estate.

The Kelley School’s Center for Real Estate Studies has expanded programming to the IUPUI campus, now offering its intensive, eight-week Commercial Real Estate Workshop both in Bloomington and Indianapolis. Kelley students at IUPUI also have the opportunity to take a full complement of real estate courses including the Real Estate Law course, offered for the second semester in a row in Indianapolis.

“The industrial, and residential real estate markets in Indianapolis are booming,” said Doug McCoy, the Al and Shary Oak Director of Real Estate and Senior Lecturer in Finance at the Kelley School. “Indianapolis is an outstanding industrial distribution hub in the United States and downtown Indy has seen a very positive renaissance. At IUPUI, students can intern and work while they’re going to school, because these firms are right down the street. Companies need talented employees, and our students can help fill that gap.”

“Real estate is a huge economic driver in the city. By developing this program further, we’re working to provide talent to employers right here in Indianapolis,” said Phil Powell, Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the Kelley School at IUPUI.

The expansion of the workshop to the Kelley School at IUPUI was made possible through gifts from the Center’s generous Advisory Board members.  Indianapolis civic leaders and Center Advisory Board Members Al and Shary Oak (Cripe) and Lacy M. and Patty Johnson (Ice Miller) recently contributed endowed Legacy level gifts to the Center to support the Center’s expansion to Indianapolis, to increase diversity, and to provide financial support for students during internships.

“Our real estate workshop is case-based,” said McCoy. “This challenges our students to integrate and apply classroom learning skills and internship experiences at a sophisticated level. Not only are students working on technical skills, but also interpersonal skills, as they sit across the table from high-ranking executives, giving their responses to a case. Students who participate in the workshop leave ready to hit the ground running.”

Previously, IUPUI students, like Hunter Leonard, BS’18, drove to Bloomington if they wanted to participate in the workshop. Leonard graduated with a degree in finance from the Kelley School at IUPUI and served as president of the Real Estate Club when he was an IUPUI student.

He says participating in the workshop led to two internships and a new job in Chicago, where he will work at Ernst & Young (EY) as a real estate consultant. It also introduced him to the Kelley School alumni network, which he says has been a huge benefit for networking, mentoring, and job searches.

“I discovered new career opportunities through the Real Estate Club at IUPUI,” said Leonard. “The club gives you perspective beyond residential real estate and home sales. You can do so much in real estate, whether you want to be a broker, investor, owner and operator, banker with a mortgage company, property manager, you name it. The Real Estate Club and program have allowed me to make important networking connections in the community and meet Kelley alumni who want to help me succeed.”