News, November 10, 2021

ARA Completes its Second Tomorrow’s Real Estate Leaders Program

ARA completed its second Tomorrow’s Real Estate Leaders program on Sunday, November 7, offering 17 students from universities around the country a three-day window into the world of real estate careers and investing.

The students, from universities including Spelman College, Columbia University, and others, met with senior executives from ARA, as well as professionals from the brokerage, development, and lender community. Sessions included “day-in-the-life” job insights, a virtual asset tour, and keys to successful interviewing.

The students also participated in a case competition, working in groups to assess the viability of two potential investments and presenting an acquisition recommendation.

Paloma Burgos, a sophomore at Brown University, said the exercise gave her an opportunity to see how investors evaluate properties for purchase.

“I had a great experience. The program helped me to better understand the different career paths within real estate,” she said. “I really enjoyed the case presentation because it was the first time I got exposure to analyzing a property.”

In the program’s featured session, Langdon Park Capital CEO Malcolm Johnson spoke with students about his career experience in commercial real estate and his decision to enter the industry.

“Real estate is really the macro economy drilled down into the places where we all live, work, and shop,” said Mr. Johnson. “Think about our neighborhoods, think about the built environments in Washington. D.C., where I’m from, or South Central, East Oakland, Harlem, or Detroit. All of these places—from how the freeways are organized to where businesses concentrate to what the retail looks like—that’s commercial real estate, and I explained to my parents that I wanted to be in this space because I wanted to have a direct impact on the built environment and communities that looked like the ones where I grew up.”

ARA Chairman and CEO Stanley Iezman also spoke, leading a session on real estate’s role in investment portfolios.

“We want the students to leave with a deeper understanding of the opportunities that exist for them within the commercial real estate space,” he said. “The goal is to give the students better insight into the career paths available, so they can then start to narrow their focus as they pursue internships and jobs.”

Hailie Person, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, said the program met this goal.

“ARA’s Future Real Estate Leaders program was a great, eye-opening experience that broadened my knowledge of not only the real estate industry, but also investment management,” she said. “It was very engaging, and the case competition was a fun way to analyze a prospective real estate investment, while also getting to know my other fellows.”

About Tomorrow’s Real Estate Leaders

Tomorrow’s Real Estate Leaders is ARA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program designed for students to accelerate their careers in investment management and commercial real estate. 

In September, the program was honored with a Trailblazer Award by Verdical Group. The awards celebrate leaders who are creating paths for others to follow through their work in climate, carbon, energy, water, waste, transit, and equity.

Accepting the award on behalf of the firm, Mr. Iezman said, “We are committed to making investments that are sustainable and resilient, and we recognize we cannot achieve this goal without diversity of people and ideas in our workforce and leadership.”

Find out more about the program at students.aracapital.com.