Investing in future talent

At QuadReal, we are proud to support the future leaders of our industry. Through its early talent and internship program, QuadReal is dedicated to providing students and new graduates with meaningful opportunities to help them achieve their career goals. Sponsoring industry events and opportunities geared towards students is a natural extension of our internship program goals. We strive to support the development of early talent in the industry while advancing the best in real estate education in North America.

Since 2017, QuadReal has sponsored the UBC Sauder School of Business team at the Cornell International Real Estate Case Competition. Encouraging participation in a globally recognized case competition such as Cornell is an opportunity to engage with students, have them engage with one another and promote transferable, professional skills that will help them succeed. This is especially the case when learning to make presentations and answer questions under demanding circumstances—all against some very stiff competition.

Every year, teams from around the globe typically travel to New York City to compete in the Cornell Case Competition. The competition tasks student teams with analyzing a real-life commercial real estate transaction and presenting their findings and recommendations to a panel of industry executives. Through this experience, students can develop their skills and build their networks with fellow participants. The competition itself includes five days of analysis followed by a full day of presentations—all prefaced with months of intense preparation and training on similar cases to what will be the final test. The UBC Sauder team, led by Professor Tsur Somerville, placed first in 2014 and 2021. Most recently in 2022, the team placed third out of seventeen competitors. All are winners given the experience gained and our pride in the commitment which is required to join the competition at all.

Teamwork and mentorship

The connection between Team QuadReal, the UBC Sauder teams and the Cornell Case Competition leadership has always been close. There has been a high level of engagement with QuadReal’s past and present interns who have chosen to compete. In fact, several recent competitors have since joined QuadReal full-time across various teams after graduation. With a network of experienced case competition participants within QuadReal, there is a strong sense of community and support for the UBC Sauder team across the company.

Current QuadReal colleagues, who once participated in the competition themselves, generously dedicate time outside of their day-to-day responsibilities to advise and mentor the students. Their involvement includes preparing practice cases, providing guidance and equipping the team with skills to analyze transactions. Prior to the competition, the UBC Sauder team also benefits from the opportunity to present a practice case to QuadReal’s senior executives, including Dennis Lopez, CEO, Remco Daal, President, Canadian Real Estate, and Jonathan Dubois-Phillips, President, International Real Estate. From colleagues who were past competitors to our leadership board, the QuadReal team, across all levels, is fully committed to elevating our future leaders.

QuadReal’s continued commitment to the Cornell Case Competition, in close partnership with UBC Sauder, is one of many ways students gain hands-on experience during their internship at QuadReal. To learn more about our early talent and internship program, please visit: www.quadreal.com/careers/internships

Thank you to our past and present interns for representing QuadReal and Team UBC exceptionally well; to QuadReal colleagues—with special thanks to program mentors Abriel Chan, Vice President, International Real Estate, Ryan Diemert, Associate, International Real Estate, and Graham Russell, Vice President, Americas—for their involvement, time and dedication to the advancement of this initiative; and to Professor Tsur Somerville and the UBC Sauder faculty for their enduring support of this partnership.