University of San Diego Knauss School of Business MSRE Team Takes Second Place in the International 2023 ARGUS University Challenge

On April 3, 2023, a team of five University of San Diego Knauss School of Business Master of Science in Real Estate  (MSRE) students were awarded second place in the 2023 ARGUS University Challenge. According to the Altus Group, who hosts the challenge, the annual, international ARGUS University Challenge “tests academic students to present the best investment analysis and conclusion for a fictitious real estate opportunity.”

The 2023 USD ARGUS team included: Nick Baldwin '24 MSRE, Jacob Donick '24 MSRE, Christian Herrera '24 MSRE,  Stephen Quinn '24 MSRE and Samantha (Hoyle) Willcock '23 MSRE.  Charles Tu, PhD, the Daniel F. Mulvihill Endowed Chair of the Real Estate Department and academic director of the MSRE program, served as the team’s faculty advisor.

“I am absolutely thrilled that we have taken second place in this year's ARGUS Challenge,” says Samantha (Hoyle) Willcock ’23 MSRE.” My amazing teammates and I were up against dozens of incredibly talented teams from around the world and we are extremely proud of what we achieved. Thank you to USD for allowing us the opportunity to showcase the skills we've learned throughout our time in the MSRE program and a big thank you to Dr. Tu for his help and support throughout this process. We couldn't have achieved this success without his mentorship.”

Each year, teams of aspiring real estate professionals from universities all over the world participate in this competition. Students are challenged to analyze a fictitious real estate opportunity and submit a report with their strategies and recommendations. They are required to use ARGUS Enterprise to perform financial analyses and evaluate potential options. This year’s challenge involved evaluating and modeling a potential purchase of a completed, but unleased project located in Houston, Texas. The asset was the former Houston Astrodome, also referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. The teams were tasked to examine the data of the Astrodome and come up with the best plan.

The student teams conducted market research in the submarket and surrounding areas of the redevelopment project and were to research and validate current market rents, operating expenses, financing and yields. Projects were to include residential apartments, retail and public parking. The teams were also required to include Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives that met the investor’s requirements. Each team compiled their respective research, incorporated it into the ARGUS Enterprise and prepared an investment memo for the investment committee.

“The project consisted of analyzing a hypothetic adaptive re-use of the Astrodome in Houston as it was converted to a mixed-use, multi-family and retail project,“ says Nicholas (Nick) Baldwin ’24 MSRE. “We had to determine a purchase price and model out the financing structure, lease up, operations and disposition of a 17-year hold on the project. It was a very interesting and helpful experience, and I am so grateful the opportunity to compete on behalf of my university.”

The International Real Estate Business School at the University of Regensburg took first place in this year’s competition. The University of San Diego Knauss School of Business team placed second, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business placed third and Florida International University Hollo School of Real Estate placed fourth.

USD teams have done exceptionally well in this competition, taking first place on seven occasions, second place, now on five occasions, third place on one occasion and an honorable mention on one occasion (view historic chart).

Student teams competed for scholarship awards totaling $25,000. View the winning teams’ cases