3rd Annual BREC Real Estate Summit
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Friday, Oct 27th, 2023
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Click Here to Register
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3rd Annual BREC Real Estate Summit . Friday, Oct 27th, 2023 . Click Here to Register .
The professional club for graduate students at UC Berkeley interested in real estate and land use.
The mission of the Club has remained constant since its founding: training the next generation of real estate and land use leaders to create more vibrant buildings and cities.
BREC was one of the first student groups established within the College of Commerce—the precursor to Berkeley Haas. Since its founding, BREC has provided invaluable resources to budding real estate and land use leaders. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the field, today the 125+ BREC members are drawn from multiple graduate programs at UC Berkeley, including the College of Environmental Design, Berkeley Law, Goldman School of Public Policy, and Berkeley Haas. The mission of the Club has remained constant since its founding: training the next generation of real estate and land use leaders to create more vibrant buildings and cities.
In addition to having access to classes at Berkeley Haas, Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, Berkeley Law, and the Goldman School of Public Policy, BREC members have access to training sessions which impart practical real estate skills. Recent trainings include crash courses in acquisition pro formas, interview preparation, and Argus software.
BREC helps to prepare members to obtain summer internships and full-time positions. Job postings are distributed to members weekly and career coaches are available to students through each program office.
With strong ties to industry leaders in the Bay Area, BREC has access to the most newsworthy developments and the most in-demand employers for site treks. Multiple treks are organized each Fall and Spring. Recent outings include a tour of the Salesforce tower, a meet and greet at a leading real estate PE firm, and a hard-hat tour of a leading co-living development.
BREC maintains strong partnerships with other groups at UC Berkeley including the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, the Berkeley Real Estate Alumni Association (BREAA) and faculty to ensure that members take full advantage of the full spectrum of real estate and land-use opportunities at UC Berkeley.
Each Fall, BREC brings speakers to campus who discuss their careers, businesses, and provide advice to students as they consider summer internships and post-graduation plans. Notable recent speakers include Ann Silverberg, CEO of Related California Affordable Housing, Trey Clark, CIO of Vanke US, and Marshall Boyd, the Co-President and CIO of Interstate Equities.
BREC hosts a number of formal and informal networking events through the year during which members can grow their professional networks to include both fellow students and industry veterans. BREC members are also connected with an mentor from the industry through the BREAA-Buddy program.
“We recognize that UC Berkeley sits on the territory of xučyun (Huichin (Hoo-Choon), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo (Cho-chen-yo) speaking Ohlone people, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Muwekma (Muh-wek-muh) Ohlone Tribe and other familial descendants of the Verona Band.”
Berkeley’s real estate program trains students for a wide variety of roles in development, acquisitions, corporate real estate, design, private equity, and asset management.
Employers interested in hiring BREC members for internships or full-time roles should contact us. BREC can distribute job postings to its members and can facilitate the introduction to students.
Haas MBA Career Management Group lead for Real Estate: Abigail Franklin (abigail_franklin@berkeley.edu)
MRED+D Career Advisor: Mary Corley (corleymm@berkeley.edu)
The Berkeley real estate curriculum and alumni network is the strongest of any institution on the West Coast, and one of the most robust in the country.
Berkeley has Four Degree Programs with Real Estate Concentrations
MBA, Haas School of Business
Masters of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D), College of Environmental Design
Masters of City Planning, College of Environmental Design
JD, Berkeley Law School
Students at Haas, CED, and Berkeley Law are eligible for Berkeley’s unique Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Program, which allows for cross-registration across Haas, Berkeley Law, and CED throughout their time at Berkeley.
Haas students also benefit from the Accelerating Careers in Real Estate program (ACRE) which provides career development, networking opportunities, and funding for professional growth. For additional information, contact Abby Franklin (abigail_franklin@haas.berkeley.edu).
BREC runs the selection process for Real Estate Case Competitions. BREC members have competed in the following real estate competitions and are perennial contenders for the top honors.
Sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the NAIOP Real Estate Development Challenge is a competition between graduate students at UC Berkeley and Stanford. Teams of five students are given an actual site, and must propose the best use, design, financing and marketing of a commercial real estate project on that site. Proposals are judged by a nine-member jury of real estate professionals in the areas of development, finance, property management, brokerage and local government. Final proposals are presented at an annual luncheon in April, with hundreds of NAIOP members in attendance. The winning team gets to keep the prized Golden Shovel (a close cousin of the Big Game Axe!) for one year.
The Golden Shovel has taken place since 1990. Of these 30 years, UC Berkeley has placed first 18 times, most recently in 2018 and 2019, and 2020.
Sponsored by Bank of America, the BofA Low-Income Housing Challenge is a competition among several West Coast graduate schools where teams must create a low income housing proposal. Each team must identify a viable site and then develop a proposal that includes design, finance, market and community support elements while working with developer and community partners. The project proposals are judged by a panel of local professionals.
The Challenge has taken place since 1992. Of these 28 years, UC Berkeley has placed first 17 times, most recently in 2018 and 2019.
The National Real Estate Challenge is a case-based real estate competition hosted by the University of Texas at Austin between top 20 graduate schools. The event takes place in Austin during the Fall and is meant to give graduate students a taste of the challenges that face real estate professionals after graduation. The competition is judged by real estate professionals from Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase.
The Challenge has taken place since 2002. Of these 28 years, UC Berkeley has placed first twice, most recently in 2019.
The Venture Competition showcases graduate students, who have the opportunity to pitch to a high-profile panel of judges. The winning team not only receives $100,000 in cash and prizes, but also the opportunity to secure as much as $10,000,000 in equity funding. The primary purpose of the competition is to encourage entrepreneurial real estate ventures. The event also serves as an opportunity to promote top student talent before prominent industry professionals.
UC Berkeley placed first in 2019.
The Innovation in Affordable Housing competition has been designed to replicate a real-life approach. 40+ multi-disciplinary teams comprised of graduate students in architecture, planning and policy, finance and other areas will be asked to address social, economic, and environmental issues in responding to a specific housing problem developed by an actual public housing agency (PHA).
UC Berkeley placed second in 2019.
