Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis Launches $2 Million Campaign with Board Trustee


February 16, 2022

GW School of Business students stand outside Nationals Stadium in Washington, D.C. during a site visit for the Real Estate Development case class. The group met with representatives of the Government Services Administration (GSA) and others.

The Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis (CREUA) at the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB) has announced a $2 million fundraising campaign launch with a lead gift from GW Board Trustee Member Charlie Bendit (BBA ‘75), co-CEO of Taconic Partners, one of CREUA’s founding advisory board members.

"We're grateful to Charlie Bendit for spearheading this campaign which will help build GWSB's real estate program into a national leader. Our program has grown from the ground up thanks to alumni support, and it will be continued efforts like this campaign which will help our program to grow for future students," said CREUA Executive Director Rob Valero (BBA '82).

CREUA's mission is to develop a first-rate real estate curriculum for graduate and undergraduate business students and conduct influential real estate research, particularly in urban development and management, international real estate, and housing finance policy.

During CREUA’s first ten years, it has published ground-breaking research and launched an undergraduate concentration in real estate, becoming one of the first major university research organizations to do so. The concentration in real estate provides students with a knowledge base in finance, real estate investment, development, valuation and strategic planning.

This fundraising campaign aims to support future GWSB students by providing more outside-the-classroom experiences and expanding the real estate curriculum at GWSB as the program enters its second decade.

Currently, more than 80 students are working towards a real estate concentration. Based upon interest from incoming and applying students, CREUA strongly believes that the market is suitable for this program to grow as it will allow GW to become a thought leader in real estate.