Dean Patricia White of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and Dean Wellington Reiter of the College of Design, cut the ribbon at the dedication of the new space for the Accelerated Master of Real Estate Development. To see slides of the event, click here.

The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University is part of a new transdisciplinary program that will award an Accelerated Master of Real Estate Development.

Gary Birnbaum, managing director of the Phoenix law firm Mariscal, Weeks, McIntyre & Friedlander, P.A., and recently appointed associate dean for graduate studies and program development at the College of Law, will serve as one of the core faculty for the program.

"The 30-week, full-immersion program is designed to prepare students for management careers in the real estate development field," Birnbaum said. "It will provide a broad overview of the entire real estate development process, from site selection and project conceptualization through financing, construction and ultimately, disposition."

The program is a collaboration of the College of Law, the College of Design, the W.P. Carey School of Business and the Del E. Webb School of Construction, each of which are providing core faculty members and support for the program.

The program will be housed in a new space in the College Avenue Marketplace building behind the Fulton Center.

Thirty students have been admitted to the program's first class, including graduates of the law and business schools, and professionals in the construction, design and real estate brokerage fields.

"The majority of the class has work experience in the real estate industry and strong undergraduate training in some aspect of this program," said Birnbaum, who sat on the admission committee. "The number of applicants substantially exceeded the available enrollment."

In addition to the classes, students participate in a large number of outside activities, including lectures by industry experts and participants, team exercises and field trips, Birnbaum said.

They visit master planned communities, such as Verrado, 25 miles west of Phoenix in Buckeye, which was developed by DMB Associates, Inc., a Scottsdale-based real estate investment and development firm; urban development projects, including CityScape, a multi-use development in downtown Phoenix, which is being developed by RED Development, LLC, the Cardon Development Group and the Barron Collier Company; and innovative retail projects such as Kierland Commons, described as a 38-acre "main-street" development that incorporates retail, entertainment, office, restaurant and residential components, developed by Woodbine Southwest and owned and operated by Westcor.

In addition to Birnbaum, core faculty include Howard Bashford, co-director of the Del E. Webb School of Construction; R. Nicholas Loope, director of real estate programs in the College of Design; Joseph Davis, associate professor of real estate in the W.P. Carey School of Business; and Karl Guntermann, the Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate in the W.P. Carey School of Business.

The core faculty is enhanced by permanent and adjunct faculty from the participating schools and colleges, Birnbaum said.

For example, from the College of Law, Dean Patricia White, will speak on tax related real estate issues; Dennis Karjala, the Jack E. Brown Professor of Law, will speak on real estate law principles; Gary Marchant, executive director of the Center for the Study of Law, Science & Technology, will discuss environmental law; and a faculty member from the Indian Legal Program will talk about real estate development on Indian lands.

Grady Gammage, Jr., an attorney and adjunct professor at the College of Design and the College of Law, will speak on land use and zoning issues. And Mike Holden, an attorney and adjunct professor at the College of Law, will address construction law topics.

Other scheduled speakers include Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, a graduate of the law school; Eneas Kane, executive vice president and chief operating officer of DMB Associates, Inc.; Elliott Pollack, of Elliott D. Pollack & Company, a Scottsdale-based real estate and economic consulting firm; Michael Ebert, one of the founding partners of RED Development LLC, a Scottsdale-based company that develops open-air regional shopping centers throughout the Midwest and Southwest; and David Scholl, senior vice president of development for Phoenix-based Westcor Shopping Centers, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Macerich Co., the largest owner-manager of commercial properties in Arizona.

Classes began the week of Aug. 21, 2006.