Real Estate and Infrastructure Program Hosts Perspectives Lecture
Nearly 300 students, alumni, and industry professionals attended Schulich’s 9th annual Real Estate and Infrastructure Perspectives Lecture at Toronto’s King Edward Hotel on October 23. The highly successful event was presented by the Schulich Program in Real Estate and Infrastructure, and the Schulich Real Property Alumni Association (SRPAA).
Keynote speaker Edward Sonshine, LLB ’70, Chief Executive Officer at RioCan REIT, walked down memory lane, addressing both the “rainy days and sunny ones” that have come with running Canada’s largest Real Estate Investment Trust. Sonshine, who was introduced by Jay Hennick, BA ’78, Hon LLD ’11, Founder and CEO of FirstService Corporation, attributed RioCan’s success to the “strategic choices” the company has made, and in his candid address advised Schulich students and alumni to “work hard, be patient, aspire and strive to be the best.” Sonshine is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council.
“I am very pleased as this was truly a collaborative undertaking, and the Perspectives Lecture Committee really stepped up to meet the challenge,” said Mark Hao, MBA ’09, Chair of 2013/14 Schulich Perspectives Lecture Committee. “Proof is in the pudding – the event was not only sold-out, but sponsorship was also over-subscribed. This was arguably the best Perspectives Lecture yet.”
Executive Director of the Real Estate and Infrastructure Program at Schulich, Andre Kuzmicki, and Nicole Vicano, MBA ’11, kicked off the night with a warm and witty welcome, highlighting Schulich’s success in providing students with hands-on learning opportunities, special training, and global competitions: from the New York City Real Estate Tour, to Schulich’s excellent performance as the only Canadian business school to compete at the 2014 MIT real estate case competition in London, UK, last spring. “Students can only learn so much through theory; they have to learn by doing” said Kuzmicki.
The 2014 Schulich Real Estate and Infrastructure Perspectives Lecture was generously sponsored by: Altus Group and Fogler Rubinoff LLP (Penthouse Sponsors); Canadian Apartment Properties REIT, Equitable Bank, EllisDon and Goodmans LLP (Mezzanine Sponsors); and BMO Capital Markets, CBRE, KingSett Capital, KPMG and McCarthy Tétrault (Concourse Sponsors).
An industry that is driven by an increasing pace of urban growth, and ever-changing economic and demographic trends, the 2014 Perspectives Lecture was nothing short of inspiring.