Publications

May 1968 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Graybar Syndications

By: William J. Poorvu

A potential investor evaluates a proposed offering—a major office building in downtown Manhattan. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Investment; Construction; City; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; New York (city, NY)

September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Community Solutions

By: Brian Trelstad and Tom Quinn

Community Solutions was an anti-homelessness nonprofit founded in 2011 after protagonist Rosanne Haggerty grew frustrated with the limited impact of traditional housing and outreach strategies. It set an ambitious goal, reached in some partner communities, of ending... View Details

Keywords: Change; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Communication; Communication Strategy; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Social Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Capital Budgeting; Capital Markets; Country; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Housing; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Mission and Purpose; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Opportunities; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Poverty; Welfare; Well-being; System; Equality and Inequality; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; New York (city, NY); Florida; Texas

December 2019
Case

WeWork Files for an IPO

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

For the board of The We Company—better known as WeWork—August 14, 2019, promised to be a pivotal day. It was then that WeWork’s IPO prospectus, known as an S-1 filing, would be made public, giving potential investors, the media, and the general public a window into the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Leadership; Management; Private Equity; Valuation; Venture Capital; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

July 1989 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Colonial Homes

By: David E. Bell

Colonial Homes supplies a complete raw materials package to build entire homes. The price of the package is guaranteed at the signing of the sales contract, while delivery (and payment) are not effected for up to six months. In an effort to reduce its exposure to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Contracts; Price; Price Bubble; Fluctuation; Monopoly; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry

September 2002 (Revised May 2008)
Case

The Arts Property and Hotel

By: Arthur I Segel and Ani M Vartanian

Julio Martinez finds himself as one of the owners of the Arts Hotel Project in Barcelona, Spain. The 455-room hotel is managed by the Ritz Carlton and is in a 44-story tower along Barcelona's beachfront. Julio needs to figure out a strategy to maximize his investment,... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Agreements and Arrangements; Property; Strategy; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Barcelona

May 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Westfield America

By: William J. Poorvu, Richard S. Tedlow and Daniel J. Rudd

The company is attempting to duplicate its Australian formula for successful mall ownership in the U.S. market. It must deal with rapidly evolving financial markets while recognizing and capitalizing on emerging trends in retailing. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Adaptation; Financial Markets; Property; Trends; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Australia; United States

Find at Harvard

01 Mar 2015
News

A Boomtown's Echo

issues that came out of that bust. So they’re almost too conservative. They’re not investing in infrastructure as much as they could or should. I’ve literally called banks while working on real estate View Details

Keywords: Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining

August 2018 (Revised September 2018)
Case

National Storage Affiliates: The REIT IPO Decision

By: Charles F. Wu, Max de la Bruyére and Gregory D. Himmel

In 2015, two years after founding National Storage Affiliates (NSA), Arlen Nordhagen and Tamara Fischer had an important decision to make. Should they proceed with NSA’s IPO? Although they had targeted to receive $15–17 a share, it was now apparent that the figure was... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Problems and Challenges; Decision Making; Real Estate Industry