The Colvin Case Study Challenge is a national real estate case study competition for full or part-time students enrolled in a college or university real estate program (undergraduate or graduate or a university sanctioned real estate club/organization).
Competition Application & Details
The competition may be offered for (a) course credit, (b) as part of a course requirement, or (c) as an extracurricular activity. The number of teams from an individual school or program is not limited.
- Round 1: Teams submit a written case study of an existing real estate development project.
- Round 2: Four teams will be chosen to present their case study, in person, to an industry panel of judges at the University of Maryland, College Park.
The Case Study Scope
The selected project must meet the following parameters:
- Location: Project located within the team’s local, state or regional area
- Permitted asset classes: residential, office, retail, hospitality, mixed-use
- Size: 25 acres or less
- TDC: $25 –$350 Million
- Completion: Project (or project phase) completed by 2020 or later
Team Specifications
- One to three Real Estate Students (undergraduate or graduate)
- Maximum of two advisors: one faculty and one professional
Case Study Parameters
- Developer/Development team
- Developer’s vision for the project
- Detailed project description & site plan
- Market Analysis
- Planning and entitlement issues
- Building & landscape designs and sustainable/green features
- Project financing and market analysis (sources and uses) (performance to proforma) (ROI)
- Current operational issues/challenges
- Exit strategy
- Innovation and impact of the development
- Interviews with stakeholders
Judging
- Results of the preliminary judging will be announced on November 19, 2025
- The top four teams will present to a live jury of real estate professionals (and an audience) at the University of Maryland, College Park.*
- 30 minute presentations/20 minute Q&A.
- Winners will be announced and prizes presented at an awards reception.
Schedule
Team Submission: November 12, 2025 (11:59 PM)
Announcement of Finalists: November 19, 2025
Present at UMD: December 6, 2025*
Awards Reception: December 6, 2025
* Finalists are responsible for airfare, ground travel and incidentals. Hotel accommodations will be provided by the University of Maryland (up to 3 team members plus one sponsor/mentor/faculty).
Specifications
- Maximum report length 20 pages, single spaced
- ULI Case Studies format recommended (View a sample)
- PDF document with 1-inch margins on all sides, Arial 12-point font
- Title Page and Executive Summary (3 page maximum) (not within 20-page limit)
- Graphics, charts, images permitted within page limits
- Color print or B/W permitted
- Appendices: maximum of 10 pages (not within 20-page limit)
- Electronic submission location: To Be Announced
- University/College name and names of team members should NOT appear in any part of the final paper. Each team will be assigned a random team number.
Past Winners
- 2024: Logan Stern, Skye McCullough and Zion Kaauwai—Clemson University
- 2023: Phakorn Chansrichawla, Derek Le and Yang Yang—Columbia University
- 2022: Christian Deindoerfer, Andrew Mossighi and Brianna Piacitelli—Pepperdine University
- 2021: Amber Hughes, Ezra McPhail and Michael Mendoza—Colorado State University
- 2020: Kevin R Boyett, Zac Marquess and McDaniel Wyatt—Auburn University
- 2019: Nidhi Bansal, Ben Dlin and Grant Williams—Colorado State University
- 2018: Brett Ambrogi, Adam Raggi and Jake Scott— Penn State University
- 2017: Christoper Tringali and Kevin Turner—SUNY Buffalo
- 2016: Tuomas Raikamo, Jamie Horton, and Daniel Vega—Columbia University
Contact Information
Carrie Chard, Assistant Director, Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development: cchard@umd.edu | 301-405-6322