During Jan. 28-29, a team composed of four undergraduate students from the Faculty of Engineering, Planning, and Accounting & Financial Management Students at the University of Waterloo competed in the 8th edition of the Annual Ryerson Real Estate Case Competition “Expand Your Empire (EYE)” where they won both the First Place Grand Prize and the Most Feasible Design for a total cash prize of $11,500.
The proposal by Nathan Lee (3A Civil Engineering), Samantha Kerry (3A Architectural Engineering), Matthew Van Bakel (3B Planning), and Kyson Vi (4B Accounting and Financial Management) consisted of a high-level demographic analysis, development proposal, 3D-modelling, and a financial analysis, all with a focus on a transit-oriented and sustainable design.
Pictured Left to right: Samantha Kerry (3A Architectural Engineering), Matthew Van Bakel (3B Planning), Kyson Vi (4B Accounting and Financial Management), and Nathan Lee (3A Civil Engineering)
‘Expand Your Empire’ is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for students to refine skills and develop and share passion for real estate with like-minded people from across the globe. This year’s case study challenged the delegates to focus on sustainability within their design proposal. Delegates are presented this case study 5 weeks in advance of the conference, giving them time to develop a proposal and presentation. This University of Waterloo undergrad team used their cross-faculty knowledge and skills to their advantage - developing a creative, original, financially feasible, and sustainable design. The team presented their development proposal to several judge panellists through multiple rounds of competition. They eventually won the first-place grand prize after competing in the ‘final four’ round of case presentations.
The EYE conference, which is one of the largest real estate competitions in North America, features a comprehensive real estate development case competition opened to international teams. The 2022 challenge consisted of proposing a redevelopment of a mixed-use parcel of land in the Greater Toronto Area. The panel of judges consisted of industry professionals such as the CEO of Cushman and Wakefield, the board of directors at CreateTO, and several other major institutions in the field. Follow the links for more details on the complete results and conference.
Congratulations to Nathan, Samantha, Matthew, and Kyson!