UNC Charlotte Center for Real Estate surpasses goal in fundraising campaign

Supporters of the Center for Real Estate at UNC Charlotte, including many of Charlotte’s top industry leaders, gathered last night at the Duke Mansion to celebrate the successful conclusion of the center’s fundraising campaign, “Developing Talent, Building the Future.”

Campaign co-chairs Fred Klein, senior managing partner at Childress Klein Properties, and Todd Mansfield, chairman and CEO of Crosland LLC, announced that the campaign raised $4.4 million, surpassing its $4 million goal by 10 percent.

The campaign included funds for increasing scholarships and fellowship opportunities for students; expanding the real estate curriculum in the Belk College of Business; and creating programs for industry professionals.

Lead donors to the campaign who contributed at the $500,000 level were American Asset Corporation, Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Bissell, Childress Klein Properties, Crosland LLC and the Wachovia Foundation. Other significant gifts included $250,000 from Batson-Cook Company and $100,000 each from Shelco, Inc., K&L Gates and Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP. A full list of donors is available at www.belkcollege.charlotte.edu/real_estate/campaigndonors.html.

“The campaign’s success is a true credit to the strong real estate program that UNC Charlotte has built over the last decade,” Klein said. “The real estate community’s broad support of the campaign shows a deep appreciation for the value of both the Center for Real Estate and UNC Charlotte to the success of our region”

In addition to the major-gifts component of the campaign, the Belk College engaged graduates of the real estate program by creating the Real Estate Alumni Association. The group gathers quarterly for social and career-development events, and members supported the campaign by contributing to a scholarship fund for students studying real estate at UNC Charlotte.

The campaign kicked off in May with more than $3.2 million in commitments made during the quiet phase. In addition to Klein and Mansfield, members of the fundraising committee included Bob Bertges (Wachovia), Amy Clement (Real Estate Strategic Solutions LLC), Ron Curtis (Bank of America), Rip Farris (Tuscan Development), Charles Lindsey McAlpine (The McAlpine Group) and Don Williams (Medalist Capital).

“This campaign was a success because of the strong efforts of the committee,” Mansfield said. “Each of them made a steadfast commitment and did a fantastic job of conveying the impact and potential of the Center for Real Estate to prospective donors. We are very grateful for their efforts and congratulate them on a job well done.”

UNC Charlotte’s ties to the real estate community are longstanding. Earlier this decade, the university raised $2 million to establish the Center for Real Estate. In the 1990s, real estate leaders joined together to endow a distinguished professorship in real estate in the Belk College of Business. Steve Ott, who joined the faculty of the Belk College of Business in 1999, is the John Crosland Sr. Distinguished Professor of Real Estate and director of the Center for Real Estate.

The university offers a concentration in real estate at the M.B.A. level as well as a post-graduate certificate program. The M.B.A. real estate concentration currently enrolls 30 students and has graduated more than 60. Faculty and graduate students also conduct research on issues related to real estate, addressing topics ranging from tax increment financing to public-private partnerships in school construction to the impact of public transit on development.

“The Belk College of Business is committed to serving the citizens of North Carolina through excellence in teaching, research and service,” said Joseph B. Mazzola, dean of the Belk College. “Through the dedicated work of Steve Ott and his colleagues, and with the support of an outstanding advisory board, the Center for Real Estate has already distinguished itself in carrying out this mission. With the additional resources made available through this successful campaign, the Center has the opportunity to become a preeminent scholarly resource for the real estate industry.”