By Joshua Wolf ’17
On Wednesday, April 19, 2017, Joshua Wolf ’17, Jacob Chang ’17, Coleman Shear ’17, and Neil Duncan ’17 represented Columbia Business School at the 2017 Kellogg Real Estate Conference and Venture Competition. The group’s idea, Joint Service Properties, was initially developed and emerged from Professor Christopher Mayer’s Real Estate Entrepreneurship course. Joint Service Properties will own, operate, and manage single-family homes collocated with major military installations to serve military families in transition from one area to another.
Joint Service Properties was one of 15 teams competing at the competition from 12 prestigious universities including international schools such as INSEAD and University of Oxford. The event started with each team pitching to a preliminary investment committee; Joint Service Properties pitched to Jack Kennedy, President and CEO of the ChrisKen Group, and Chris Klare, a Senior Advisor for Incubation Capital Partners. After the preliminary round, the conference kicked-off with a luncheon followed by a Capital Markets Panel, a Creative Redevelopments Panel, and a keynote address by Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of GGP.
Following the keynote address, the final four teams were announced. After being announced, each finalist gave their pitch to the final judges and the entire conference audience. The final judging panel consisted of Frank Cohen from Blackstone, Randall Rowe from Green Courte Partners, and Laurie Smith from Blue Vista Capital Management. The four finalists were Home2 Suites from Johnson Business School at Cornell University, Inside the Box from INSEAD, Urban Champs from the University of Oxford, and Joint Service Properties from Columbia Business School. The venture ideas of the four teams were drastically different and all highly feasible. In the end, Inside the Box from INSEAD won the competition, but Joint Service Properties had a strong showing.
Joint Service Properties is grateful for the opportunity to compete and represent Columbia Business School and thankful for the guidance received from Professor Christopher Mayer and David Sherman ’82, co-directors of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at Columbia Business School. They will strive to work to turn their idea into a reality that provides reliable service for active duty military families nationwide.
Josh Wolf ’17 is a 2008 graduate of the United States Military Academy where he earned his bachelor of science in civil engineering. Josh continues to serve on active duty in the United States Army as an engineer officer. He is also a registered professional engineer in Missouri and a certified project management professional.