William & Mary School of Business Real Estate Conference to Focus on Challenges, Opportunities of Local, Regional, and Global Markets

2nd Annual Conference at the Mason School of Business Joins Global Real Estate Powerhouses and Pre-eminent Experts

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., April 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Mason School of Business at the College of William & Mary will host "Surviving Today, Succeeding Tomorrow" April 11-12 at Alan B. Miller Hall in Williamsburg, VA, with several of the nation's most prominent commercial real estate leaders.

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"Surviving Today, Succeeding Tomorrow" will focus on the challenges and opportunities in the shifting local, national, and global economies affected by the real estate markets.

CEOs from global real estate powerhouses Cushman and Wakefield, Prologis and Related Urban will be joined by local, regional and national experts in residential and commercial real estate. The conference will provide a framework and context for the real estate professional to make sense of the volatility of the industry.

The role of the ports, often overlooked, will also be examined as a factor for growth in the real estate markets on local, domestic, and international dimensions. Additionally, pre-eminent experts will give their views on the trends shaping the availability of capital to leverage for real estate opportunities.

"Huge challenges remain in real estate. Some of the top experts in the world of real estate will be at the College of William & Mary's Mason School of Business to help conference participants and our students distinguish the mine fields from the fields of opportunity," said Mason School of Business Dean Lawrence B. Pulley.

Dane Brooksher, the retired Chairman of the Board and CEO of Prologis will serve as the morning moderator of the conference. Prologis is a leading global provider of distribution facilities.  Kenneth Himmel, CEO of Related Urban Development, will moderate the afternoon session.

The conference will close with a panel of experts addressing and taking questions on the next steps forward. That panel will be led by John Cushman, CEO of Cushman and Wakefield.

The expansive speaker list includes prominent authorities such as:

• Jackie Amato, the President of Towne Bank Mortgage, LLC
• David J. Beatty, President of Towne Bank Commercial Mortgage, LLC
• Jerry Bridges, Executive Director of the Port of Virginia
• John Cushman, Co-Chairman of the Board, Cushman and Wakefield
• Howard Elkus, founder of Elkus Manfredi Architects
• Charles "Chip" Fedelen, Executive Vice President of Commercial Real Estate at Wells Fargo
• Kenneth Himmel '68, CEO of Related Urban Development
• Youguo Liang, Economist at Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI)
• Roger S. Pratt, Managing Director and Chief Risk and Investment Officer for the US and Latin America, PREI
• Walt Rakowich, Co-CEO of Prologis
• Carl E. Reichardt, Jr., Director of Research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting

The lead sponsors of the 2012 Real Estate Conference are Prologis, Related Urban and TowneBank.

For more information and to register: http://mason.wm.edu/re.

The conference site will be Alan B. Miller Hall. Miller Hall, dedicated in 2009, was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects LLP. It earned Gold LEED Certification in 2010. It is deemed the 'western gateway' of the College of William & Mary campus in Williamsburg, VA and is paired to the east with the historic Wren Building, the oldest college building in the United States.

As the second-oldest college in the United States and educational home to many American leaders, the College is revered as the "alma mater of a nation." Its Mason School of Business embraces the entrepreneurial spirit that built the country atop a foundation of business, trade, and economics. Distinctive in its revolutionary thinking and approach to problem solving using a highly experiential model, it welcomes energetic thinkers with a will to lead in creating a strong sustainable economy and thriving society.

Contact:
Andrea Sardone, Business School
757-221-2043/[email protected] 

SOURCE The Mason School of Business at The College of William and Mary