Before he launched into a presentation that focused on the company behind New York City’s Hudson Yards — the largest private real estate development project in U.S. history — real estate development executive Mike Gilbane applauded officials from the Florida State University College of Business and FSU Real Estate Center.

“It’s really inspiring to see what you’re doing with the students; what they’re being exposed to,” Gilbane told audience members last week, referring to student participation in the FSU Real Estate TRENDS Conference. “The network you have developed here, I think, is truly unbelievable. It’s inspiring, and I have no doubt it’s going to contribute incredibly to the industry over time.”

Gilbane, managing director of Related Fund Management for New York-based Related Companies, served as keynote speaker during TRENDS, a world-class business forum that for the 31st year brought together top business leaders to discuss key conditions and developments affecting the real estate industry.

A crowd of about 550 heard from panelists and speakers, including from industry and state government, who discussed global and domestic investor trends, capital markets insights and the effects of Florida’s aerospace infrastructure on real estate.

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A major Florida State University supporter has put a bountiful personal stamp on a vital component of the FSU College of Business’ nationally acclaimed real estate program.

Brett Lindquist, a college Alumni Hall of Fame member who earned real estate and finance degrees from FSU in 1983, recently made a significant philanthropic investment to create the Brett C. Lindquist Endowed Directorship for the FSU Real Estate Center, housed in the College of Business.

His gift bestows the title of Brett C. Lindquist Executive Director on the center’s existing executive director, Yvonne Baker, who decades ago impressed Lindquist with her work in commercial real estate. Baker became executive director in April 2021, succeeding Dean Gatzlaff, the center’s long-time director who retired in 2022 and last year became an inductee into the Charles A. Rovetta Faculty Hall of Fame.

The gift gives Baker and the college funding to strengthen the work of the FSU Real Estate Center, which enhances the teaching, research and service mission of the FSU real estate program, ranked No. 6 among public universities by U.S. News & World Report.

The investment continues a steady stream of support to the university, college and real estate program from Lindquist, who in recent years joined his wife, Cindy Lindquist (B.S. Marketing ’85), in creating the Brett C. and Cynthia R. Lindquist Classroom in Legacy Hall, the college’s future home. Earlier gifts established the Lindquist Endowed Real Estate Scholarship Fund, the Lindquist Endowed Fund for Real Estate Excellence and the Lindquist Endowed Professional Sales Scholarship Fund.

“With yet another remarkable and thoughtful investment, Brett reaffirms his deep friendship and connection to the students, faculty and staff in the College of Business,” said Michael Hartline, dean of the college. “We thank him and Cindy for their continued vision, support and generosity.”

‘Passion’ about giving to FSU

Lindquist credits the college for his success as co-founder and CEO of The Mortgage Firm, a residential mortgage lending company that benefits from his FSU education. His firm boasts more than 40 branches throughout the Southeast and has closed several billion dollars in mortgage loans.

“It’s a passion for me,” Lindquist said about supporting his alma mater. “I’m lucky that I’m able to give money. I feel that way because I’ve gotten a lot more out of Florida State than Florida State has gotten out of me — the friendships, experiences and connections — so it’s an easy thing for me to make a decision to give.”

His gift creates the third named directorship among the college’s seven centers and institutes. It follows the Barry and Janice Anderson Directorship, held by Samantha Paustian-Underdahl, in the FSU Organizational Effectiveness Institute and the Christopher E. Iansiti Endowed Directorship, held by Luke Hopkins, in the Center for Professional Success.

In addition, the investment comes as the college celebrates the 40th anniversary of the FSU Real Estate Center and the 50th anniversary of the real estate program. Also, this year, the college observes the 30th year of the FSU Real Estate TRENDS Conference, the FSU Real Estate Center’s hallmark annual event. The conference spotlights industry experts from across the country and draws more than 600 attendees annually.

“It’s an honor to have my name stand beside Brett’s because I know where his heart is and what his passion is for this program,” Baker said of Lindquist’s gift and her title change. “He wants the best for us, and we in the FSU Real Estate Center share a passion and commitment to serve our students, faculty members and industry partners. This named engagement with Brett makes our goals more attainable, and it makes us even prouder to do what we do.”

Lindquist on Baker: ‘A great fit’

Baker’s professional connection to Lindquist dates to 1996 when she, as an Orlando-based commercial real estate broker, leased Lindquist his first office space for The Mortgage Firm. Baker worked with Lindquist on subsequent leases, including a move to a nearby location, until the company eventually purchased its own building.

The two largely fell out of touch until early 2021 when Baker, with more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate, applied to succeed Gatzlaff as executive director of the FSU Real Estate Center. As a member of the center’s executive board, Lindquist interviewed Baker, as did other board members, and put in a strong word.

“I remembered her as a spectacular broker and knew she could go into that role and share real-world knowledge and contacts from likely all over the Southeast,” Lindquist said. “She was such a great fit: an exceptional commercial real estate professional rolling into academia, and she’s helping to keep our real estate program rocking.”

Lindquist said Baker’s work as center executive director helped inspire his Brett C. Lindquist Endowed Directorship. He expressed hope that his support and funding would give Baker more resources and reasons to stay in the role long-term.

“We’re a Top 10 real estate program in the country with incredible leadership, and I want to help keep an exceptional leader in the position,” he said.

Baker said her appointment as executive director and her new title exemplifies “what we tell students all the time: The people you meet in this industry stay in your world for a very long time.”

Lindquist had kept FSU in his orbit ever since 1978 when he enrolled at the school as an All-American swimmer and swam competitively for four years. He found a deeper connection to athletics than academics but garnered inspiration and, ultimately, significant success from classes in real estate, accounting and finance, he said.

In addition to giving back financially, Lindquist mentors students and maintains a regular campus presence as an event guest and classroom speaker, offering professional advice and tips on buying a first home. He remains on the FSU Real Estate Center executive board and is immediate past chair of the college’s Board of Governors.

“The friendships, connections and experiences, they go on and on and weave through my life,” he said. “FSU is a huge part of me.”

Baker added: “He’s proud of what’s happening here, and he’s putting his name on that.”

For more information, visit realestatecenter.business.fsu.edu.

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Select master’s students in the Florida State University College of Business continue to reap the educational and professional benefits of a distinctive investment vehicle that provides real-world experience in real estate securities.

The FSU Real Estate Investment Fund, or REIF, stands among the few funds of its kind and size, with a balance of about $2.35 million only in real estate investment trusts, or REITs, and teams of graduate students managing its holdings.

“We know of very few, if any, student-run REIF funds of this size that specialize in REIT securities,” said Will Myers, a student in the college’s accelerated full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. “And I think the close-knit team we have here, especially this semester, is extremely unique to FSU.”

Myers manages the fund with fellow master’s students Jacob Kelly and Sierra Wicker, plus three other students in a graduate-level directed independent study course. Kelly and Wicker both are pursuing a Master of Science in Finance (MSF) degree with a specialization in real estate.

The core team of Myers, Kelly and Wicker has been involved in the fund’s management or analysis since the first half of last year. Last semester, they took the lead in establishing the fund’s performance-monitoring and reporting processes and building a detailed website, which provides information on its holdings and sector breakdown, core team, history and more.

Faculty adviser Mariya Letdin, the Madeline Duncan Rolland Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate and Legal Studies, applauded the students for their work and their commitment to the REIF.

“I’m inspired by their energy and creativity, and it’s the most rewarding part of my teaching to work with this group of students,” she said.

Also, students in Advanced Real Estate Finance and Investment, an MBA and MSF course also available to top undergraduates getting a head start on graduate studies, provide analysis of REIF investments.

“The fund attracts students who are bright and are looking to learn,” Letdin said. “They’re willing to work and come up with original solutions.”

The FSU REIF, pronounced reef, launched in the spring of 2022 on the strength of $320,000 in gifts from R.K.M. Development Corporation President Bill Lloyd (BS Real Estate ’86), R.K.M chairman Richard Maloof (BS Real Estate ’85) and other private donors, plus $2 million from the FSU Foundation.

The fund mirrors the college’s Student Investment Fund, which likewise started with generous seed investments from donors, works with a faculty adviser and is overseen by a panel of industry professionals. The REIF investment committee features four college alumni: Lloyd; Scott Darling (BS Finance ’78), president of America Realty Advisors; Kyle Riva (BS Management ’77), a college Alumni Hall of Fame member and CEO of Alexander Investments International; and Thekla Salzman (BS Accounting ’83), a principal with Salzman Real Estate Advisors.

“Their labor is – like the students’ – a labor of love,” Letdin said of committee members. “This is their third year of sitting in investment committee meetings for four hours at a time, and I’m grateful for their time, support and guidance.”

Student teams analyze REIF securities and present recommendations to the industry committee members, who evaluate teams’ analyses, ask questions, deliberate and decide whether to act on the recommendations and allocations.

“The REIF has provided the opportunity for us to really experience what fund management is,” Myers said. “And we’re not working with chump change – $2.3 million is a lot of money, so we have real risk and processes that we need to follow.”

Myers’ professional experience includes a technology investment banking internship with Truist Securities, where he’ll work after earning his MBA. He said his work with REIF makes him realize: “I want to do more fund management.”

Students note the fund combines their interests in real estate and finance. The fund website shows holdings in various real estate sectors, including multifamily, office, retail, industrial, gaming, storage and health care.

“The exposure you get to all the different asset classes and the level of responsibility given to you is huge,” Kelly said. “You have a fiduciary responsibility to maintain capital but also to not…over-push potential investment opportunities.”

Kelly, whose multiple internships in development include multifamily and hospitality, plans to pursue a career in real estate development.

“The REIF has allowed me to look at every single real estate sector, from multifamily, industrial and retail down to some more-niche sectors like day centers and cell towers,” he said, “and that breadth allowed me to land on what I wanted to do long-term.”

Kelly and Myers said they have spent – in addition to their other coursework — up to 35 hours a week on the fund, especially as they built the fund’s systems and operations components, and average about 20 hours a week. The typical student spends five to 10 hours a week on it, they said.

“Those 20 hours don’t really feel like work,” Myers said. “It’s what I would much rather be doing.”

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The real estate program in Florida State University’s College of Business is ranked No. 2 and two of its faculty members are ranked in the Top 10 according to worldwide rankings that measure research productivity in the top three real estate journals.

The latest Real Estate Academic Leadership (REAL) rankings for authors and institutions show FSU’s real estate faculty tied at No. 2 with National University of Singapore. Among authors, FSU’s Tingyu Zhou ties for the No. 4 ranking, while fellow faculty member Chongyu Wang ties for 10th in the world.

FSU’s overall real estate faculty ranking marks a jump of three places from last year. It also reaffirms the preeminent standing of the university’s real estate program, which among public schools ranks No. 6 for its undergraduate program and No. 8 for its MBA specialty in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings.

“This terrific news underscores the world-class reputation of our real estate faculty and programs and serves as yet another signpost on the path to preeminence of our college,” said Michael Hartline, dean of FSU’s College of Business.

The REAL rankings are based on research productivity from 2019 through Sept. 1, 2023, in The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics; The Journal of Real Estate Research; and Real Estate Economics. The rankings include 662 articles from 1,037 authors across 528 institutions, according to a Journal of Real Estate Literature article on the rankings.

The rankings “highlight the people making the greatest contributions to real estate knowledge as measured by publication output” in those journals over the past five years, the article said.

FSU researchers were published 38 times. That tally includes 12 publications by Zhou, the Dean Gatzlaff Associate Professor of Real Estate, and nine works by Wang, an assistant professor.

Zhou’s research interests include real estate economics and finance, and she serves on the board of directors of the Global Chinese Real Estate Congress and as associate editor of the International Real Estate Review. Wang’s academic publications have also included articles on real estate economics and finance, and his awards include the American Real Estate Society’s 2022 Best REIT Manuscript Prize.

Associate Professor Daniel Broxterman, the Francis Nardozza Fellow in Real Estate and academic director of the FSU Real Estate Center, credited Zhou and Wang for their “timely analyses of the rapidly changing commercial real estate market in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He also noted that the REAL rankings mark yet another indicator “that we have an impressive group of real estate scholars at FSU.”

For more information, visit business.fsu.edu.

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