Nine teams of undergraduate college students faced off in the ICSC Foundation and The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation’s 2020 Virtual Retail Real Estate Challenge, part of the ICSC Foundation’s Talent Incubator Project, which works to develop students for careers in the retail and real estate industry. The competition challenged the teams to research and present a site selection pitch for Ikea executives seeking to grow the retailer’s presence in North America.

Teams presented via video, followed by a virtual Q&A with expert judges. The winner — Indiana University, advised by JLL vice president Casdin Parr — wowed the judges with its plan to buy DC USA mall in Washington, D.C., and shuffle existing tenants and vacant spots to make way for Ikea as an anchor.

Watch Indiana University’s winning submission here:

Competition judge Seth Geldzahler actually had worked on the shopping center during his time as an executive for Bed Bath & Beyond. “I’m intimately familiar with this project because I did the Bed Bath & Beyond deal 14 years ago. I was impressed that a bunch of guys in Indiana were able to find something in D.C.”

The team’s focus on Ikea’s store criteria impressed competition judge Kenton McKeehan, Hines senior managing director of retail. “Continue to speak from the voice of the major tenant, and you guys will do great,” he said.

The Lamy Group founder, president and CEO Kenneth Lamy and Retail Property Solutions owner and principal Beverly Ricks rounded out the judges’ panel.

The five students on the winning team regularly participate in weekly case competitions at Indiana University. In those competitions, they receive prompts on Thursday evenings and present their solutions on Tuesday evenings. Topics range from brokerage to valuation and market analysis to development. While their winning submission focused on Washington, D.C., three other teams had Seattle in their sights. Check out the other teams’ submissions:

• University of Colorado, which placed second and was advised by Kemper Development Co. director of retail Alesha Shemwell, homed in on one of Seattle’s most prestigious and dense locations.

• Louisiana State University, which placed third and was advised by Raider Hill Advisors vice president of development and construction Elan Sippel-Feldman, also found Seattle to be the ideal market for Ikea’s next step.

• Marquette University, advised by Carbon Health vice president of real estate development Grant Guidinger, chose Chicago as an ideal launchpad for Ikea’s growth in the Midwest.

• Monmouth University, advised by Edens development manager Areti Moustakis, found a property in Wilmington, Delaware, with all the right co-tenants.

• Rutgers University, advised by VEREIT CEO Glenn Rufrano, targeted a center in Nashville for redevelopment.

• Seattle’s Bellevue submarket was the top choice of the University of San Diego, which was advised by SimonCRE founder and CEO Joshua Simon.

• Salem State University, advised by Raider Hill Advisors senior vice president of asset management and operations Kevin Berry, found Montgomery, Alabama, to be an ideal hub for Ikea’s Southeast expansion.

• Texas Tech University, advised by Centennial COO Whitney Livingston, planned a mixed-use property in downtown Chicago.

Not all of this year’s teams hailed from schools with robust real estate programs like Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Some only have one or two commercial real estate courses but are home to students eager to explore the industry. “Some of these schools and students deserve recognition for taking the leap and really going outside their comfort zone,” said ICSC Foundation president Lauri Novick. “While they weren’t the ‘official’ winners, they were huge winners in my book.”

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