Real Estate Development Students Gain Real World Perspective
The College of Business is proud to offer Real Estate Development (REAE 4314) and Seminar in Real Estate Development (REAE 5314) courses which teach students about real estate development in a five week course. Through this course students are expected to learn key terms associated with real estate development; they will start to understand the perspective and constraints of development; financing and familiarize themselves with development of land including residential, industrial, commercial and retail.
COB’s Real Estate Development students took a field trip to Tarrant County to meet Dr. Jerry Ducay, the City Manager of Colleyville, and Bruno Rumbelow, the City Manager of Grapevine. Dr. Ducay spoke on the importance of flexibility between the public and private partnerships, in regard to the Village of Colleyville. And he also shared his philosophy on leadership.
Mr. Rumbelow spoke to students about Harvest Hall and Hotel Vin, Grapevine’s mass transit-oriented facility. Including talking about the history of the conceptual facility and how it came to fruition as a public and private partnership.
When I asked Professor Steve E. Isbell, one of the instructors of this real estate course, about why this trip is important, he said the trip is important for Real Estate Development because it exposes students to topics covered in class; including infrastructure, plotting/subdivision, and public/private partnerships.
Professor Isbell continued that it is easier to visualize a three-story condo with different units and comparing it to a vacant lot. Also, hearing experienced city managers speak about the relationship and collaboration between city leaders, staff, developers and the public is important for students to understand. He emphasized that standing at The Village at Colleyville and watching it evolve is a representation of a finished product.
Lastly, he said “The goal of the field trip is to exploit the tangible qualities of real estate development for the benefit of the student's understanding of the same. Meaning, real estate is all around us, and it is easy to immerse ourselves in it outside of a classroom and away from a computer.”