Publications

February 2013 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Project Sun Devil and Project Paris

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz

Tony Lee is preparing to present a project to the investment committee of Howard Street Capital. He will be recommending an investment in Project Sun Devil, a high-quality 225-unit student housing rental property near Tempe, Arizona. Tony Lee will compete for capital... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Financial Analysis; Return On Assets; Accounting; Performance Measurement; Financial Ratios; Return On Equity; Financial Statements; Profitability Analysis; Portfolio Investment; Portfolio Management; Real Estate; Property; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return; Real Estate Industry; United States

March 2014 (Revised February 2016)
Supplement

China Vanke (A-2)

By: Lynn S. Paine, John D. Macomber and Keith Chi-ho Wong

China Vanke's president and his team must decide on a plan of action after reviewing the quality issues the company faced in early 2012 after a series of highly publicized incidents concerning the quality of the homes they built. View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; China; Green Building; Sustainable Development; Asset Management; Leadership; Urban Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Assets; Safety; Real Estate Industry; China

November 2008
Case

The StarNight Hotel Construction Bid: Real Time Competition on Schedule, Scope, and Cost

By: John D. Macomber

The case is intended for use with the HBS Educational Technology Group "Construction Bidding Simulation." Material that can be taught includes quantity survey methodology (from the case); analyzing preliminary estimated costs per building trade (from the discussion... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Construction; Cost; Contracts; Bids and Bidding; Real Estate Industry

01 Sep 2014
News

Groundwork

drop-off point from Western Avenue.” When it comes to undeveloped campus real estate, the parking lot adjacent to Spangler will offer a bridge to Harvard University’s planned Allston expansion. “Looking 10 or more years out,” notes... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; George F. Baker III; real estate; Tata Hall; Real Estate; Real Estate

June 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Reworking Office Space: Industry City, Brooklyn

By: Arthur I Segel, Andrew Baum, Nori Gerardo Lietz, Charles F. Wu and Sid Yog

Jamestown is contemplating how to best lease a portion of their new development along the Brooklyn waterfront, Industry City. The 6 million square foot, mixed-use development is meant to accommodate Brooklyn’s growing innovation, creative, and “maker” communities.... View Details

Keywords: WeWork; Office Space; Real Estate; Jamestown; Level39; Shared Office Space; Information Technology; Leasing; Property; Strategy; Real Estate Industry; United States

February 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Sekisui House and the In-Home Early Detection Platform

By: John D. Macomber and Akiko Kanno

To address an aging population and sales declines, a major Japanese homebuilder considers pivoting to provide and support an in-home health detection platform, in competition with tech companies. This case considers the point of view of major builders regarding how... View Details

Keywords: Voice Assistants; Architecture; Smart Home; Aging Society; Digitalization; Real Estate; Home Automation; Sensors; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Health Care and Treatment; Housing; Age; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Japan

January 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

United Housing—Otis Gates

By: Steven Rogers and Mercer Cook

Otis Gates, the only African-American in his HBS graduating class, is an entrepreneur from greater Boston area and has built a successful affordable housing firm. Along the way, he and his partners have contributed countless hours of community service to the... View Details

Keywords: Affordable Housing; Real Estate; Community Engagement; Social-good; Request For Proposal; Diversity; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Moral Sensibility; Fairness; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Housing; Business and Community Relations; Real Estate Industry

01 Dec 2019
News

3-Minute Briefing: Leslie Hale (MBA 2001)

surround myself with very smart people. But don’t confuse my desire to be collaborative with an inability to make decisions. I’m honored and humbled to be the first African American woman to become CEO of a publicly traded real View Details

Keywords: April White; real estate; leadership; diversity; African American; career paths; women in business; Real Estate

01 Jun 2024
News

Crash Pad

2023, according to the property data firm CoStar, with another 200 in the planning stages. Policymakers have greeted the trend with enthusiasm, as it seems to offer a single solution to twin real estate... View Details

Keywords: Amy Crawford; illustrations by Kathleen Fu; building coversion; housing crisis; innovation; real estate; Real Estate

2020
Book

Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity

By: Joseph Allen and John D. Macomber

By the time you reach 80, you will have spent 72 years of your life indoors. Like it or not, humans have become an indoor species. This means that the people who design, build, and maintain our buildings can have a major impact on our health.
Ever feel tired... View Details

Keywords: Architecture; Real Estate Development; Air Pollution; Air Quality; Public Health; Productivity Gains; Buildings and Facilities; Health; Pollutants; Performance Productivity; Construction Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2013
Article

Commercial Property Rent Dynamics in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: An Examination of Office, Industrial, Flex and Retail Space

By: Maria Ibanez and Anthony Pennington-Cross

This paper is concerned with the market rental rate for space offered by commercial property and how that rental rate evolves over time. Rental rates reflect the value of the services provided by the property and can have a significant impact on the ability of its... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Real Estate; Rent Dynamics; Office Property; Flex Property; Retail Property; Industrial Property; Property; Real Estate Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

January 2023
Case

Crow Holdings Development: Mass Timber Construction

By: John D. Macomber, Robert Hernandez and Kyle MertensMeyer

Jim McCaffery and Cody Armbrister of Crow Holdings Development evaluate the pros and cons of committing to mass timber construction instead of conventional concrete or steel for a new 260,000 SF multi-story office building in Texas. Benefits include substantially... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate Development; Architecture; Air Quality; Health ＆ Wellness; Office Property; Sustainability; Carbon Abatement; Natural Environment; Environmental Accounting; Green Buildings; Design; Construction; Cost vs Benefits; Environmental Sustainability; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Texas

March 2023
Article

Not from Concentrate: Collusion in Collaborative Industries

By: Jordan M. Barry, John William Hatfield, Scott Duke Kominers and Richard Lowery

The chief principle of antitrust law and theory is that reducing market concentration—having more, smaller firms instead of fewer, bigger ones—reduces anticompetitive behavior. We demonstrate that this principle is fundamentally incomplete.

In many... View Details

SSRN

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

Nori Gerardo Lietz is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Finance and Entrepreneurial Management Units. She presently teaches Real Estate Private Equity and Starting a Private Investment Firm.

Nori Gerardo Lietz is the founder of Areté... View Details

15 Aug 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Ryan Serhant: How to Manage Your Time for Happiness

Keywords: Re: Ashley V. Whillans; Real Estate

March 1994 (Revised December 1995)
Case

McArthur/Glen Realty Corp.

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Jonathan Potter is considering an investment in the newly formed McArthur/Glen Real Estate Investment Trust. The case gives some background on real estate investment trusts and their history. Also discusses manufacturers' outlet shopping centers, the type of real... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Real Estate Industry

November 2012 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Pricing and Partnership at Zillow, Inc.

By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman

As Zillow's real estate search service gains user adoption, some real estate professionals question Zillow's policies, fees, and power. Dissatisfied real estate professionals could remove listings from Zillow, reducing the service's value to users. Should Zillow... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Multi-Sided Platforms; Property; United States