Meet Our Students
The following students are members of the MIT Center for Real Estate class of 2009. (See bottom of this page for a list of Student Hosts for the Class of 2009 Visitor's Program.)
JEFFREY BEAM
Cambridge, MA
BArch, Architecture, 2000, University of Notre Dame
MCP, 2009, MIT
Jeff is a dual degree candidate for masters degrees in both Real Estate Development and City Planning. Prior to MIT, Jeff was raised in Kentucky, studied architecture at Notre Dame, and then worked for seven years in Washington, D.C. on the design of large, mixed income, mixed use neighborhood revitalization projects in Ohio, New York, South Carolina, New Jersey, and D.C.
He is a licensed Architect, focusing on sustainable, traditional urbanism.
For the summer of 2008, Jeff is working in development for The Community Builders, a large nonprofit mixed income housing developer based in Boston. He and his wife enjoy exploring Boston's neighborhoods with their coddled mutt, Gilbert.
PINAR (BOYAR) CELEN
Istanbul, Turkey
B.A. Business Administration, 2007, Koc University (Hons.)
B.Sc Industrial Engineering, 2007, Koc University (Hons.)
M.A Economics and Finance, 2008, Bosphorus University
Prior to MIT, Pinar has attended M.A. in Economics and Finance program at Bosphorus University with TUBITAK Scholarship. She has held several academic assistance positions and conducted research on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Production systems, distribution networks, mathematical programming, decision analysis, and labor economics. Last year she was designated as the ambassador to Turkey in Türkische Deutsch Platform, contributing to the economic and political relationships between Turkey and Germany.
She worked on production and distribution systems at Toyota factory, Erpas Bed manufacturing, and Migros market chain. After serving in manufacturing sector she decided to use her know-how in services sector and started working for Celen Group, providing corporate valuation and services. For the last two years, she took part in several mixed-use schemes, industrial developments, and corporate allocation projects in Turkey providing economic feasibility, location analysis, and highest & best use reports. Recently she is working on her dissertation on Entrepreneurship in real estate.
Furthermore, she is going to marry Onur Celen on July 24th .NATHAN BOYER
Salt Lake City, UT
SB, Management, 2007, Brigham Young University
Nate grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. During his early teenage years he spent three years in Toronto, Canada with his family. After spending two years in Stockholm, Sweden on a volunteer mission for his church, he attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Finance. Nate currently works at The Boyer Company, one of the intermountain west's largest commercial real estate developers. He is involved in all aspects of office and retail development including site selection, construction, lease negotiation, and management. In his spare time Nate enjoys road biking, running, and golfing.
BEN BULLOCH
Fresno, CA
BSc Social Sciences, 2002, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Prior to attending MIT, Ben was the project manager for two large mixed-use centers totaling 1.4 million square feet of retail/office and 1,300 multi-family units in Fresno, CA for Lance-Kashian & Company (Campus Pointe & Fancher Creek). Ben was responsible for managing land-use entitlements, environmental review, infrastructure development, site planning, civil/architectural design review and construction.
Before this, Ben was a land sales agent for Fraser Forbes Company in Northern Virginia responsible for brokering $140 million of land deals in three years.
Ben has served in volunteer leadership positions for ULI Young Leaders Group, Greater Merrifield Business Association, Fresno’s Leading Young Professionals and Downtown Fresno Redevelopment Taskforce.
Ben graduated from University of Edinburgh in Scotland where he studied International Business and Anthropology. He has traveled extensively through South-East Asia, Southern Africa and Europe. Ben is originally from Baltimore, Maryland.
ALBERTO P. CAILAO
Manila, Philippines
BS, Civil Engineering, 2001, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Originally from the Philippines, Alberto has lived throughout Southeast Asia and Latin America before coming to the United States for education and work experience.
After completing his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering, Alberto worked for the Massachusetts Port Authority's Business Development Department focusing on the Master Planning of the South Boston Waterfront. He then worked at Tetra Tech/Rizzo as a Transportation/Urban Planner performing analysis and design for various transportation related Master Plans and regional and local multi-modal infrastructure improvements
throughout the Greater Boston area.
Alberto most recently worked for Zubatkin Owner Representation, a real estate project management firm in New York City, as a Project Manager. He was part of the management team that oversaw the new construction of the New Museum of Contemporary Art and was also involved in the management of $300M worth of capital improvements and renovation for the American Museum of Natural History.
Alberto has been a LEED Accredited Professional since 2006.
After MIT's MSRED program, Alberto plans to apply his US education and diverse work experience as an international developer focusing in emerging markets.
ONUR CELEN
Istanbul, Turkey
B.A. Business Administration, 2007, Koc University
B.Sc Industrial Engineering, 2007, Koc University
M.A Economics and Finance, 2008, Bosphorus University
Onur resides in one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the world. Istanbul brings all kinds of people together. As a result he has attended different schools with different cultural prospects. He has fused his deep analytical discipline he has inherited from Deutsche Schule Istanbul and a wide world perspective from Robert College into his work.
He worked in multi-national companies in services and manufacturing sectors. He worked at IBM Consultancy in buy-out deal of a pharmaceutical factory in Germany, and worked on copper production techniques, facility layout and production planning at Sarkuysan Inc.
As a son of two architects, he has been in close contact with construction and development all his life. In 2006 he formed Celen Strategic Investment Solutions with his brother, where he aimed to provide full service assistance to real-estate investors in the region. His work focuses on combining his background on production techniques, finance, and management skills to maximize operational profit in real estate.
This year he has formed Celen-Caspian Ltd. with his mother to serve the Turkic Region and the Central Asia. Recently he has been working on a joint-venture team to develop a $3bn. Baku waterfront development in Azerbaijan.
He states that he has made the best and most important decision in his life, by marrying Pinar Boyar on July 24th.
JASON ELLIS
Los Angeles, CA
BA, Architecture, 1992, Yale University
Jason served as a U.S. Air Force commissioned officer for five years in Las Vegas and Georgia. During this period, he functioned as the chief urban planner for a 10,000 personnel installation, secured programmatic funding for $40M in new projects from Congress and directed over $33M in fast-track design and construction projects. After transitioning to the civilian sector, he worked briefly as a marketing coordinator for an interior design firm in San Francisco supporting four regional offices. For the last several years, Jason has directed the design and/or construction of over $265M in government, private, institutional, educational, industrial and commercial projects for a design-build general contractor. These projects include a 148-unit mixed-use downtown loft apartment building, multiple university housing complexes and a hotel for the U.S. Navy. Most recently, Jason helped spearhead the $70M revitalization of a college campus in South Central Los Angeles.
For the last five years, Jason has run his own business renovating and leasing residential properties in different parts of the country. His ultimate goal is to work in international development and urban infill revitalization. Jason is a LEED Accredited Professional.
JASON J. FOSTER
Boston, MA
B.S. Finance, 2003, Boston College
After receiving his B.S. in Finance from Boston College, Jason began his career in Boston at Meredith & Grew, Inc., an international brokerage services firm. As an associate with the Downtown Team, he participated in a variety of transactions, and served as primary analyst for the firm’s largest leasing transaction of 2004, totaling in excess of 500,000 square feet. Thereafter, Jason left to pursue a position at Cathartes Private Investments, a boutique real estate development firm.
During his four years at CPI, Jason was involved in all phases and disciplines of real estate, across a variety of product and asset classes, including residential condominiums, apartments, hotels, self storage, commercial office, retail, and industrial. As an assistant project manager, during his tenure at CPI, Jason participated in the development of property throughout New England, collectively valued at approximately $250 million. Additionally, he served as asset manager for 120,000 square feet of commercial office and retail space, and sat as president of the board of trustees at a residential condominium property.
Jason is a member of ULI Young Leaders, REFA Emerging Leaders, and NAIOP Developing Leaders, and is pursuing the LEED AP designation for New Construction (NC).KURTIS FUSARO
Boston, MA
BA, Economics Management, 2001, Ohio Wesleyan University
Prior to enrolling at MIT, Kurtis worked at Potomac Realty Capital, a specialty real estate finance company focused on structured finance solutions for all commercial property types. While at Potomac, he held several roles with responsibilities including screening and structuring potential transactions, underwriting deals, managing assets, and performing workouts. His projects included a variety of asset types and loan structures in markets throughout the United States.
Prior to Potomac, Kurtis was a member of Harvard University's Real Estate Services Group where he managed a portfolio of institutional and commercial properties owned by the University. His responsibilities included working with property managers to oversee facility operations and capital projects, managing property budgets, and analyzing portfolio performance.
Originally from Cleveland, Kurtis is an avid runner and has completed three marathons. He is a licensed real estate salesperson and a member of the Young Alumni Volunteer Association, the Real Estate Finance Association, and the Boston Area Young Real Estate Professionals.
ROSS GAMMILL
San Francisco, CA
BA, Economics/ BA Geography, 2002, University of California, LA
Prior to enrolling at MIT, Ross worked as an Underwriter for Bridger Commercial Funding. Bridger originates loans for sale into the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities market. At Bridger, Ross was involved in transactions totaling over $400 million dollars. He has underwritten loans for numerous property types including multi-family, office, hospitality, industrial, and retail. Prior to joining Bridger, Ross worked for Triage Consulting as a Financial Consultant to the healthcare industry. At Triage, Ross led a team of consultants in helping hospitals streamline their revenue cycles.
Ross has traveled to 25 countries and enjoys cycling, racing motorcycles, and any kind of outdoor activity. He looks forward to combining the knowledge gained at MIT with his interest in sustainable development.
JAMIE GERRITY
Charlestown, MA
BA History, 2003, Williams College
For the past four years, Jamie has been working for Centremark Properties, Inc., a Boston based boutique real estate development company involved in the acquisition and development of commercial real estate throughout all asset classes. While at Centremark, Jamie was charged with a broad spectrum of responsibilities, including sourcing and underwriting acquisitions, asset managing portfolio properties, construction oversight of development projects, structuring acquisition and construction financing as well as partnerships with institutional equity sources, and managing dispositions. Jamie’s most recent project was the acquisition, conversion, and stabilization of a brick and beam mill building into a modern biotech laboratory facility.
Jamie enjoys the multi-disciplinary exposure that commercial real estate demands, and he hopes to use his experiences at MIT to build upon a broad base of knowledge that will become essential as he works toward his goal of owning and managing his own entrepreneurial real estate development firm.
An avid sailor, Jamie looks forward to continuing to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Boston’s waterfront location.
JINBAE JEONG
Seoul, Korea
MS Architectural Engineering, 2001, Yonsei University
BA Architectural Engineering, 1995, Yonsei University
Since 2001, Jinbae worked for LG Group which holds many real estate assets in and out of Korea. In LG Corp., the holding company of LG Group which has no less than 30 affiliated companies, Jinbae advised the Group’s CEO to make proper decisions on key issues relating to each of the affiliate’s RE assets, and he executed the asset management for LG Group’s main HQ buildings totaling more than 3,300,000 square feet. Most recently, Jinbae was involved in the new investment projects at LG. He helped choose appropriate and profitable properties for LG affiliates and initiate 2 construction projects with over $400 million worth. One is a redevelopment project for an office building at the central business district of Seoul, and the other is to build an Internet Data Center (IDC) located in a national industrial complex.
Prior to LG, Jinbae began his professional career at Daewoo Engineering & Construction, a top-tier company in the country. At the company he was involved in the several construction projects including National Intelligence Security building in Seoul.
At MIT, he intends to learn more about developing a mid-term and long-term portfolio strategy and implementing an investment management through utilizing real estate vehicles to stabilize returns on global RE assets.
RENA Konagai
Tokyo, Japan
BA, Economics, 2002, Hitotsubashi University
Rena has developed her expertise in credit analysis of CMBS and REITs for the past four years at Moody’s Japan. As a lead or support analyst, she has rated more than USD 6.8 billion loans/CMBS with approximately 700 underlying properties, specializing in conduit (multi-borrower) type securitization. Prior to Moody's, she worked for two years at the Investment Banking Division of Merrill Lynch, where she performed financial modeling and corporate analysis for several industries. While at Merrill Lynch, Rena was seconded to Merrill's fledgling joint venture with a Japanese megabank and was involved in disposals of the bank's nonperforming loans.
At MIT, Rena hopes to deepen her understanding in real estate finance with a viewpoint of equity investment and a global capital market in order to be a professional investor in the future.
JASON KORB
Cambridge, MA
BA, History and Afroamerican and African Studies, 2000, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
As a development director for Boston-based Beacon Communities, Jason managed complex housing and mixed-use developments. Over the course of more than four years, Jason directed the permitting, financing, construction and lease-up of the $50 million Cordovan at Haverhill Station and Haverhill Lofts, two mixed-income, historic, adaptive reuse developments. Most recently, Jason was permitting a $100 million mixed-use village in Newbury, Massachusetts, and overseeing the conversion of a vacant school in Sharon, Massachusetts, into mixed-income rental apartments.
Jason has significant experience in complex permitting and financing transactions. His experience includes transactions involving multiple federal, state, and local subsidies, including low income housing tax credits, historic tax credits, tax-exempt bond financing, and soft debt. In addition, Jason has worked with cities and towns throughout Massachusetts to permit Beacon’s developments under MGL Chapter 40B as well as under traditional zoning.
Prior to joining Beacon, Jason was a community organizer and later a housing project manager at the Fenway Community Development Corporation, a neighborhood nonprofit organization that develops affordable housing.
Jason is a Commissioner on the Essex National Heritage Commission and is a volunteer Angel Flight pilot, transporting patients and their families to and from medical care.
MICHAEL LAM
Honolulu, HI
BSc, International Business, 2000, Pepperdine University
Prior to attending MIT, Mike focused his career on commercial brokerage work in International markets. From 2000-2007 he was based in Shanghai primarily with Cushman & Wakefield, where he represented corporate occupiers in 610,000 sq. ft. of commercial lease acquisitions valued at $116 million, located in and around the Yangtze River Delta region. He was the recipient of the firm's Rookie of the Year Award in 2004 and the Deal of the Year award in 2005.
In 2006 Mike was relocated to the firm's Silicon Valley office to take on a regional position where he was responsible not only for developing and managing global accounts, but also for working with the firm's leadership to better integrate service lines across all geographies. Some of his assignments during this time include performing development advisory work for the World's tallest building, advising a Korean conglomerate on placing $800 MN in core properties in Tier One US markets, and consulting a pharmaceutical firm on where to locate a $100 MN manufacturing plant in South East Asia.
In addition, Mike has conducted and written several research reports on Asia Real Estate trends that have been published in various trade journals including Real Estate Forum and Urban Land. He has also been an invited speaker at industry events including the 80th California State Bar Meeting and the Wharton China Business Forum.
BRYAN D. LEE
Jacksonville, Florida
BS, Finance, 2004, University of Florida
Upon graduating from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, Bryan spent four years working in Jacksonville, Florida for Cantrell Real Estate, a multi-disciplinary real estate firm with appraisal, brokerage, and real estate asset management operations. His work included appraisals for development and acquisition loans, and eminent domain litigation consulting. He has gained experience with major institutional banks as well as the opportunity to play a critical role in prolific eminent domain cases throughout the state of Florida. He was integrally involved as co-appraiser for Flagler Development Company’s Florida real estate portfolio, as well as financial feasibility analysis for Codina Development’s Downtown Doral development project. Independently, Bryan formed Lee Investments, LLC in 2006 to pursue mixed use, pedestrian friendly development opportunities.
Bryan is a member of Emerging Green Builders, USGBC, ICSC, and ULI Young Leaders. Prior to moving to Cambridge, he served as social chair and steering committee member for the United States Green Building Council North Florida chapter. He holds an active Florida Certified General Appraiser license, Sales Associate license, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.
Bryan plans to use his experiences and knowledge gained at MIT to improve the built environment through development of mixed-use, pedestrian friendly communities and town centers and urban infill projects.
JIA MA
Beijing, China
BArch, 2001, Tsinghua University
MArch, 2004, Tsinghua University
Jia has held her own real estate consulting business for two years. Besides exploring market for the firm, her consulting services focused on evaluating, acquiring and facilitating various development projects for private developers and local governments. The professional activities included feasibility studies, project acquisition, financial analysis, and strategic planning. Most recently, she consulted with the senior executives for the acquisition of a 10 million sq. ft mixed-use development project and for the financial feasibility of a 3600 unit residential project.
Before her entrepreneurship adventure, Jia served as project manager with Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning & Design, an exclusive governmental institution in planning and zoning. In this role, she oversaw a comprehensive array of urban development from macro-leveled strategic analysis, regional planning, redevelopment, to concrete design and construction. Prior to BMICPD, she worked as an associate architect at Architectural Design & Research Institute of Tsinghua University, involved in the prize-winning projects for 2008 Olympic Games.
At MIT, she aims to deepen her understanding of real estate finance and global development.
ROBERT MARTINSON
Chestnut Hill, MA
BS, Chemical Engineering, 1998, University of Michigan
Rob grew up in Chicago where he was introduced to construction and real estate at an early age through his family’s general contracting company. Upon relocating to Boston in 2005, he was hired by Trammell Crow Company in Project Management. As part of the Trammell Crow acquisition, he transitioned to CB Richard Ellis/New England as a Senior Project Manager and continued to represent tenants and owners to manage and direct all aspects of the construction and relocation process. While at TCC and CBRE/NE, he oversaw more than 30 projects with total work in place valued at almost 100 million dollars. In addition to project management and general contracting experience, Rob has also built experience in acquisition and asset management through personal real estate investments.
After graduation from college, Rob worked in the computer and internet consulting industry and had the opportunity to work in Paris, France for seven months. He appreciated the international exposure and looks to continue to build his international experience following MIT.
Rob also loves physical challenges and has completed five Chicago Marathons, two Chicago Triathlons and a summit of Mount Rainier.
KRISTIAN PETERSON
Boise, ID
BS, Finance, 2003, Marriot School of Management, Brigham Young University
Kristian has spent the last three years working in Dallas as an advisor to executive management and the principals at DBSI, Inc. a privately held Boise, Idaho company that has been a leader in the syndication of TIC real estate offerings. While at DBSI, Kristian performed site and market evaluations in over forty states collaborating extensively with the departments of acquisition, due diligence, leasing, property management, and sales operations in establishing asset market value and creating building pro-forma. In total, he advised on the acquisition of $1.5 Billion in commercial real estate value, in a diverse set of investments including office, retail, and industrial properties. Most recently, he managed the nationwide due diligence department for a land and development opportunity fund that includes both vertical and horizontal development and residential land banking.
Prior to joining DBSI Kristian worked as a commercial real estate broker and managed the activities of a market research department. He has lived and worked in London, UK and throughout the United States; including New England where he worked in intercity communities as a two-year volunteer missionary for his church. He is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese.
Kristian plans to use his experiences at MIT to enter the field of sustainable development, focusing on energy efficiency and the relationship between the built and natural environment.
JODIE POIRIER
Tucson, AZ
BA, Psychology, 2000, Cornell University
For over four years Jodie worked in sales and marketing for Pulte Homes, one of America’s largest homes building companies. While at Pulte, Jodie specialized in master planned active adult communities under the Del Webb brand. After achieving Pulte’s sales rookie of the year in South Carolina, she transferred to Tucson, Arizona, where, with her creativity and leadership, she increased sales over 100% in two struggling communities. In addition to her work in sales, Jodie was nominated to the Top Gun program, a highly valued mentor and leadership program, designed to lead training initiatives and mentor new hires.
Prior to working at Pulte, Jodie spent a year living in and travelling around Oaxaca, Mexico. She has utilized the Spanish speaking skills she solidified while living in Mexico to facilitate her communication with trades in new home construction.
At Cornell University, Jodie played singles and doubles on the women’s tennis team. In addition to playing tennis, she is an avid runner and enjoys numerous sports and outdoor activities.
BENJAMIN POWER
Miami, FL
BA, Urban Studies and Psychology, 2004, University of Pennsylvania
Benji is a dual degree student entering his second year of the Masters in City Planning program at MIT. He was born in Santiago, Chile but has lived most of his life in Miami, FL, which he proudly calls home and hopes to return to and contribute to its future growth and development. His undergraduate studies explored the intersection of urban design and community issues, while his professional endeavors in Miami focused on the role of private development in the metropolitan area. His final position as a development consultant in Miami, guiding private and government developers through land entitlement processes, highlighted for him the large communication and information riff that exists between communities, investors, public officials, and environmental advocates.
While at MIT, he has been working to understand the analysis real estate developers use to assess project viability, and to find opportunities for synergy between the economic drivers of development projects and the positive impacts and contributions projects can bring to an area. He plans on returning to Miami to either work as a developer or as a bridge between development forces, focusing on creating projects that are financially viable but that also bring added value to
the community’s environmental and social fabric and sustainability.
Benji is working during this summer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Affairs Department on New England foreclosure research. He is also consulting for a community organizing group in Miami, helping create strategies for establishing green industrial development in a low income section of the city.
JIA QIAN
Beijing, China
BA, Business, 2000, Renmin University
After graduation in 2000 from Renmin University of China, Jia spent more than eight years working with Vanke, the leading real estate company and the largest home-builder in China. In the first three years at Vanke, Jia worked in the Corporate Human Resource Department and was elevated to Operation Manager in charge of compensation and insurance, performance management, recruiting, and personnel affairs. In 2003 Jia moved to the Guangzhou branch of Vanke and worked in the Land Acquisition Department where he helped to acquire two pieces of land. One year later, Jia moved again to the Marketing and Sales Department where he successfully promoted the sales volume of two projects to 1,500 units a year with a price increase of 30 percent. In 2005, Jia was appointed Corporate Strategic Planning Manager and one year later he was promoted to Assistant General Manager of Corporate Strategy and Investment. In this position, he was responsible for suggesting annual investment budget, portfolio strategy, and relevant policies. Also, Jia led a series of researches on the underlying principles of real estate market. At the end of 2007, Jia moved to the Corporate Treasure Department as Assistant General Manager, where he played an important role in overseas financing.
KATHERINE QIU
Encinitas, CA
BA, Economics, 2005, Wellesley College
Prior to attending MIT, Katherine was a Senior Financial Analyst at JPI, a leading national apartment developer. At JPI, she spearheaded the California Cap Rate Study project, an analysis of more than $8 billion of multifamily transactions to facilitate understanding of market conditions in the apartment industry. She also evaluated more than $2 billion of potential 100+-unit core and value-add acquisitions opportunities in the West Region of the United States.
Before discovering her passion for real estate, Katherine worked at Bank of America, first as an analyst in the Debt Capital Markets division of Banc of America Securities LLC and later getting involved in business development and portfolio management. During her tenure, she completed transactions totaling more than $4 billion in financing for companies in a wide range of industries. She also led the creation of a market playbook and helped manage a loan portfolio.
Katherine enjoys traveling, dining out, rock climbing, and interior decorating. At MIT, she intends to develop a deep understanding of all aspects of real estate to prepare for a leadership role in the industry.
RICARDO M. SOLORZANO
Cd. Juárez, México
Bachelor of Financial Administration, 2002, Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM)
After graduating with honors from his Bachelor in Financial Administration, Ricardo assumed the position of Head Director of Grupo Sol, a real estate group dedicated for over 25 years to the integrated development, administration and sale of commercial and housing projects. The group has grown to be one of the pioneer residential developers in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Today, Ricardo has over 8 years of working in the Real Estate market, 6 of them overseeing the operations of Grupo Sol and all the companies that comprise this real estate group. Aside from his role as Director, Ricardo is also actively involved as a member on the National Chamber for the Industry of Housing Development and Promotion (CANADEVI), as well as a founding member of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI Juarez A.C.).
Through his studies at MIT, Ricardo looks to continue learning about the real estate business in order to acquire the tools necessary to take his company to the next level, so that it may continue with it’s mission of improving our quality of life through the spaces in which we work and live, by the integrated development of real estate.
JOHN SULLIVAN
Brookline, MA
BA, Engineering Studies, BA Economics & Business 2004, Lafayette College
Prior to enrolling at MIT, John spent more than four years as a Project Manager with Bovis Lend Lease LMB, a global project management and construction company. During his time at Bovis, he worked on large development projects in Boston, with construction costs ranging from $25 - $360 million. His experience includes two large downtown mix-use developments, Millennium Place (Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Towers) and the InterContinental Hotel and Condos. He also worked on Merck's Research Center, and most recently the renovation of 179 Lincoln St., which anticipates LEED certification. His job responsibilities at Bovis included trade procurement, onsite supervision, scheduling, budget development, cost control and project close out. He was also responsible for training employees in how to use Prolog Manager, the companies' project delivery software, used to manage document control and generate anticipated cost reports. John is also a LEED accredited professional.
DENISE TAN
Singapore
BA, Econ., 2001, Univ. California/Berkeley
Originally from Singapore, Denise has spent the last two years working in Hong Kong for the asset management arm of insurance giant, AIG, Inc. While at AIG Investments, Denise was part of the Business Development team jointly responsible for raising assets from institutional investors across the firm's product platform of listed equities, fixed income, private equity, hedge funds and notably, real estate. Her coverage included the Asia ex Japan, Middle East and Australasia region.
Prior to AIG Investments, Denise spent time working with the investment arm of the Singapore government focusing on deployment of funds into private equity and venture capital. Denise started her career with the Economics and Valuation practice within KPMG in the San Francisco Bay Area, working with Fortune 500 California-based clients focusing on tax optimization structures, intellectual property transfers and valuations. In addition, Denise has also been a board member and advisor to her family's real estate development company since the age of 18. She played a key role in revitalizing heritage properties for residential use in 2004 and continues to lead strategy for asset repositioning within the portfolio. She hopes to lead the company into its next phase of development and maximize shareholder value.
Denise graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in Economics. She lived for 10 years in San Francisco, during which time her interest in civic involvement and education sparked her participation in various community associations including the World Affairs Council for Young Professionals, Commonwealth Club, Future Women Leaders Association and First Place Fund for Youth. She is fluent in English, Mandarin and various other Chinese dialects. While at MIT, Denise seeks to deepen her understanding of real estate from various perspectives.
MICHAEL TILFORD
Boston, MA
BA, History, 2003 Gonzaga University
MBA, 2008 Boston University
Prior to attending MIT, Mike was employed for over three years as a Development Manager for SRM Development at their 151 acre mixed use, Riverstone project located in Coeur d’Alene, ID. In addition to directing the $25 million reclamation, entitlement and site development of Riverstone, Mike managed the successful acquisition of five other key development sites located in the Coeur d’Alene area. As an MBA student at Boston University, Mike worked as a real estate finance research assistant for the Boston University ReBuilde group focused on financing green and energy efficient capital improvements for commercial and multifamily buildings.
Mike is currently an active member of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Urban Plan program in Boston as well as a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) Developing Leaders committee. He currently works as a Development Intern for the Bulfinch Companies located in Needham, MA.
KUNAL WADHWANI
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
B. Comp. Engr., 1996, Thadomal Shahani Engr. College
MMS, Mgmt/Finance, 1998, KJ Somaiya Inst. Mgmt.
Kunal has over five years of experience in the Indian Real Estate industry working as an Executive Partner in P. R. Builders, a private developer specializing in high end residential and commercial property development in India. During this time, Kunal has primarily focused on acquiring various real estate development projects for his firm. He has been responsible for deal sourcing, legal negotiations, financial analysis, feasibility studies and client relations. In addition, Kunal has also been responsible for various project-related activities such as planning, design, construction and marketing. Most recently, he handled two major projects valued at over $100 million i.e. a 21-storey sea facing residential project in South Bombay spanning over 100,000 square feet and a retail development project spanning over 50,000 square feet. He has also completed development of two other residential projects valued at over $25 million. On a professional level, he has also engaged in consulting assignments for K Raheja Corp - one of India’s largest real estate groups.
Before joining P. R. Builders, Kunal worked as a Senior Business Consultant with ADP in London focusing on I.T. systems for the financial services industry. He began his career as an Associate Business Consultant working for Citicorp (now known as Oracle Financial Services) with the role of developing internet-banking applications.
At MIT, Kunal plans to focus on international real estate finance and development.
PHILIP WANG
Hong Kong
BS, School of Hotel Administration, 1996, Cornell University
Philip has spent the last three years working as business analyst and executive assistant to Managing Director of Shun Tak Holdings, a real estate developer with prominent interest in Macau and Hong Kong. While at Shun Tak, Philip was primarily responsible for the formulation of the company’s strategic direction in real estate, and has conducted feasibility study on a 250-room resort redevelopment, devised sales and marketing strategies for 2,000+ residential units, spearheaded the negotiation of hotel management contracts, coordinated the planning of a 4,000,000+ sf mixed-use development project, assessed real estate development opportunities in North Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and prepared periodic research on the regional residential and casino gaming markets.
Prior to Shun Tak, Philip has accumulated five years of investment banking experience in Hong Kong from Lehman Brothers, Mandra Capital, and Core Pacific – Yamaichi Capital, constructing DCF financial models and drafting prospectuses, raising over $3 billion in aggregate value. Philip has conducted IPO execution for six companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and coordinated a bond issue for a Chinese forestry company.
At MIT, Philip intends to acquire more knowledge on the dynamics of the real estate industry for making more effective and efficient investment and development decisions, and to better prepare for a career in real estate investment.
Apart from work, Philip is an avid superbike racer and has been racing in China for the past five years.
WILLIAM CASEY WELLS
Long Beach, CA
BA, Biblical & Theological Studies and Philosophy, 2006, Biola University
MBA, 2008, University of Southern California
William began his real estate career after attaining a junior loan officer position at a medium sized single-family real estate finance firm while attending Biola University via a full tuition subsidy. After graduating with departmental honors, William continued to work in wholesale and retail finance at Wilshire Thorne where he was promoted to Vice President and Director of Sales. Upon Wilshire Thorne’s corporate relocation William chose to remain in the Los Angeles area where he eventually earned both an equity stake and appointment as National Director of Branch Operations at Jayco Capital, a privately held real estate finance firm located in Irvine, CA. William utilized his substantial experience to design, implement and develop Jayco’s net branch division.
Pending his matriculation into the MBA program at the University of Southern California William chose to pursue his interest in commercial real estate and transitioned to the role of Associate for Churchill West, a boutique finance firm, wherein he specialized in structuring both portfolio and CMBS debt. William is a licensed CA Real Estate Broker, a member of ULI Young Leaders, and is currently pursuing the LEED AP designation for New Construction (NC).
William intends to augment the personal growth he gained at Biola and the business knowledge he accumulated at USC with the focused real estate curriculum offered by the MIT MSRED program.
FARAJI WHALEN
Washington, DC
BA, Business, 2001, Moorehouse College
Faraji was born in Ithaca, NY, and spent the majority of his childhood living in Zambia, Ethiopia, Guinea, and Liberia before returning to the States to complete high school. A rambunctious adolescent, he attended Sidwell Friends in Washington DC before finishing high school at Gonzaga. Faraji was a national merit scholar and chose to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, majoring in Business Administration. While at Morehouse, Faraji was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and wrote freelance articles for several national publications and websites.
Upon graduation, he worked in sales for a number of student financial aid corporations. Faraji’s work on the 14th and U Main Streets program, helping retail businesses and developers market the neighborhood stoked his interest in real estate. While working at Sallie Mae, Faraji started a residential real estate company, 5Wide Development, and purchased, rehabbed, and re-leased boutique units in Washington and Atlanta. Faraji’s interest in sustainable development led him to attempt a deal to build several hybrid prefab townhomes in the Petworth neighborhood of DC, but the deal’s failure convinced Faraji to pursue an MSRED at MIT. He is currently studying for the LEED AP designation and works as a project manager for the DC government’s Green Summer initiative, exposing DC youth to green collar jobs and ecological sustainability.
GUOXU XING
Beijing, China
BArch, 2001,Tsinghua University, China
ME Urban Planning, 2004,Tsinghua University, China
For the four years before attending MIT, Guoxu worked in Tsinghua Urban Planning & Design Institute, China’s most famed national planning institute. As a project manager, Guoxu led his team in accomplishing 12 urban planning and consulting projects over 10 provinces in China, while he dealt with multiple aspects of management including contract negotiation, budgeting, presentation, and performance evaluation. His quantitative skills were honed during the tourism resource and transportation analysis for highly sensitive sites, such as Du-jiangyan (World Cultural Heritage, 2000), Old Town of Li-Jiang (World Cultural Heritage, 1997), Tibet Autonomous Region, and Beijing’s Old City. At the same time, he worked closely with real estate developers on projects in resorts. Most lately, he developed a feasibility-study and urban design for a 5-star hot spring hotel (350,000 square feet, $18 million) near Baishui National Park, Guangzhou, and assisted the developer with land acquisitions totaling 450 acres.
Prior to 2004, he interned as associate planner under Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning. Besides assisting in the examination of two residential land-bids, he analyzed the urban transportation system in Beijing’s Old City, investigated planning in Milan and Rome, and co-edited with the commission a 300-page book about the comparative study.
At MIT, Guoxu is focusing his interests on real estate finance and investments, both academically and practically. He is now a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level-I Candidate.
JOSHUA ZADE
Cambridge, MA
BA English & Theatre, 1998, Williams College
A native of Fulton, Missouri, Josh spent his undergraduate years in western Massachusetts studying English and Theatre at Williams College (1998). A resident of the Cambridge area since 1999, his most recent professional position was as the Graphics & Marketing Coordinator for Keen Development Corporation, a developer of mixed-income housing specializing in historic preservation and adaptive reuse.
Josh is a dual-degree student, and is pursuing a Master of City Planning at MIT's DUSP.
Student Hosts for the Class of 2009 Visitor's Program
- Nathan Boyer
- Jason Foster
- Michael Lam
- Maggie Ma
- Kristian Peterson
- Kathryn Qiu
- Mike Tilford
