This news article is being re-posted with updated information. University of Michigan teams took both first and second place in the Case Competition. The second place team, "GR Redevelopment Group", is now listed below.

The UM / ULI Real Estate Forum took place this week, November 7-8, at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, MI. This year's theme was, "Creating the Next Urban Center".

In addition to the Forum events, University of Michigan students, and many Taubman College students, earned recognition over the two day event by earning the top prizes in Scholarships and the Case Competition.

On Wednesday, November 7th, students from midwestern real estate, architecture, planning, and business programs were invited to take part in the Case Competition. The competition was based on an actual Brownfield in downtown Detroit sourced from a developer/advocacy group. The objective of the Case Competition was to create a business case for each team's selected redevelopment scenario. The first place prize earned $4,000 while second place earned $1,000. Participating teams had four days to prepare their proposals.

The first place team was "RSW Group" whose members were Eric Wilson (Real Estate Development Certificate), Paige Shesterkin (MUP), Matthew Gilbert (MArch), and Matthew Richter (MBA).

Matt Richter and Paige Shesterkin (M.U.P., Taubman College) were two of the four students involved in the winning case. They are pictured with the author of the case, Real Estate Club co-president, and MBA student Allen Weiss.

The second place team was "GR Redevelopment Group" whose members were Daniel Kobran, Diego Horna Munoz, Cesar Simborth, and Chris Swart.

On Thursday, November 8th, Taubman students earned all five Jeff Blau scholarships available this year. The Jeff Blau Scholarship, named after Jeff Blau, Chief Executive Officer of Related in NYC, awards five $1,000 scholarships to five graduate students for essays written on why Grand Rapids is appealing and what it needs to do to make itself even more attractive.

This year's winners were chosen based on their essay, resume, the promise they show in related aspects of real estate, and the progress they display in their current graduate program.

The Taubman College students receiving the scholarships were:

• Peter McGrath (MUP, Real Estate Development Certificate)
• Carly Grob (MUP, Real Estate Development Certificate)
• Hans Papke (MArch)
• Taylor Traub (MUP/Master of Sports Management)
• Paige Shesterkin (MUP)

Winners of the scholarships, with Peter Allen, Margaret Dewar (Taubman College Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Director of the Real Estate Development Certificate) and the winning students (left to right): Taylor Traub, Hans Papke, Paige Shesterkin, Carly Grob, and Peter McGrath.