In 1923, the Chicago City Club sponsored a competition to address “the theoretical and practical parameters, social and physical, of a micro-community in a suburban context with a focus on housing.”1  William E. Drummond, a student in the Frank Lloyd Wright studio, offered the concept of the “Neighborhood Unit.” This innovative urban design suggested that neighborhood organization should center on the proximity of residences and essential services to foster a cohesive identity and a sense of belonging in the community. Today, nearly a century later, Chicago neighborhoods are once again dr ..read more

The Cornell Baker Program in Real Estate recently welcomed a distinguished speaker from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), His Excellency Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal, to share with us his experience leading the transformation and economic diversification of the emirate of Sharjah.  Mr. Al Sarkal is currently the Managing Director of Chapter 3 LLC and the former Executive Chairman of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq).  For two decades in Shurooq, he was the driving force behind the investments, cultural growth, and development of Sharjah by using real estate developm ..read more

This past summer, our Review editors had the excellent opportunity to work with exceptional firms in diverse locations. Below are some key highlights from their respective experiences: Dahlia Idris, BXP Company, Seattle, Washington In this short reflective essay it is difficult to sum up ten weeks’ worth of insightful and enlightening experience as Boston Properties’ (BXP) Summer Associate.  While working in the Seattle region office, I challenged myself in a way that fostered both my technical real estate knowledge and interpersonal growth.  As an example, I achieved numerous learni ..read more

David Rupert: Vice Chairman of Griffin Capital On Thursday, September 22, 2022, the Cornell Baker Program in Real Estate hosted David Rupert (BA Economics ’79), Vice Chairman of Griffin Capital, a full-service real estate investment and management company that owns institutional-quality assets across the United States. A founding board member of the Baker Program at Cornell University, Mr. Rupert’s love for teaching showed as he delivered an information-packed 90-minute talk on the inter-related aspects of real estate (RE) markets. Recollecting his time as a Harvard University MBA student, Mr ..read more

The Cornell Tech campus on New York City’s Roosevelt Island is an exceptional example of the world’s potential to lower the carbon footprint of real estate. From concept to delivery, sustainability was at the forefront for the entire design and construction team behind the Cornell Tech campus. Project History In 2008, to address the significant opportunity for the expansion of the high-tech sector in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office launched a competition to develop an applied sciences campus with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, where the winning school would be gif ..read more

In February 2021, San Francisco officials unveiled plans to build a 100% affordable housing project in the Sunset District of San Francisco.  The Sunset District is located on the west side of San Francisco, an area that has seen little new construction of affordable housing developments over the past decade.  The Sunset District is designated as “District 4” based on San Francisco Supervisorial District Maps.  According to data from SFYIMBY, a non-profit focused on the development of housing units in San Francisco, District 4 has seen only 26 net new affordable units and 64 to ..read more

Project Background and Site Summary  The waterfront-bound neighborhood of Sunset Park lies between Gowanus and Bay Ridge, spanning between 15th street to 65th street between 9th Avenue across the 8th avenue corridor. Industry City is a new mixed-use development set on 35 acres of centuries-old industrial land in Sunset Park. It is one out of three massive historical industrial complexes along the Brooklyn Waterfront. One of them being the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where the CEO of Industry City, Andrew Kimball led the transformation of the 300-acres former Naval ship-building facility. The oth ..read more

Central Business Districts (CBD) submarkets have historically been a sought-after office and retail asset market for international and local businesses.  The concentration of commercial activity, people, and accessibility in the submarket incentivizes businesses to relocate and take advantage of clustering and agglomeration economies.  CBDs often serve as a city’s financial or business district, making them an area of prime importance, and driving exceptionally high office, retail, and residential rents compared to other submarkets. [i] However, there is notable evidence from recent ..read more

The Baker Program was honored to welcome Paul Rubacha, Chairman of the Cornell Real Estate Council and co-founder and principal of Ashley Capital, to the Distinguished Speaker Series.  Mr. Rubacha started his career in the real estate department of Prudential Financial, Inc. and transitioned to equity operations with Goldman Sachs, establishing himself on Wall Street.  When discussing his career trajectory, Mr. Rubacha talked about the transition of manufacturing activities from local United States operations to global locations, particularly in Southeast Asia, in the 1980’s.   ..read more

After graduating university and contemplating his career path, David Kramer thought there were three ways he could help save the world: education, city government, and affordable housing.  David decided to pursue the third option, and now leads a real estate company with over 30 years of commitment to affordable housing throughout the five boroughs of New York City. On November 18, 2021, the Baker Program in Real Estate had the pleasure of hearing from David Kramer, President of Hudson Companies, a full-service, primarily residential real estate firm responsible for $2 billion of multifa ..read more