The graduate student team from the Chapman University Argyros College of Business & Economics (Chapman) took the win at the fourth annual NAIOP SoCal Orange County Real Estate Challenge. The event, held April 17 on the UCI campus, brought together graduate student teams from Chapman and the University of California, Irvine Paul Merage School of Business Center for Real Estate (UCI) in a head-to-head competition to determine the highest and best use for a site in Southern California.
For 2025, the competition site involved the reimagination of the Santa Ana Civic Center and Santa Ana Stadium located on 37 acres in the heart of Santa Ana. Encompassing federal, state, county, and city agency buildings, along with the Santa Ana City Hall, OC Civic Center, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana Main Library, and stadium, the goal for the development proposal was to better connect the Civic Center and stadium to the increasing vibrancy of downtown Santa Ana and to better serve the city, county, and state employees who occupy the facilities.
Chapman’s winning presentation was a vision-informed response that included the creation of a vibrant cultural and sports district with an 18,000-seat stadium, retail and event amenities. The new multifaceted stadium replaces the existing Santa Ana stadium to better energize the downtown and create a regional destination. All told, the proposal calls for a new civic center with two new office towers and parking while retaining key buildings such as the parking structure, law library, and other essential civic functions. The new stadium is an asset for the city and its residents, responding directly to Santa Ana’s demographic identity, civic pride and community-based sports culture while creating a venue for soccer, multi-sports and community events.
“The City’s executive members who attended the event and I were truly impressed by the creativity and thoughtfulness demonstrated by the two teams during their presentation. Each concept reflected a creative vision that aligned with the goals set out by the City and a solid understanding of real-world planning. Both designs offer a strong starting point as the City explores the next steps for the future of our civic center,” said Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager, City of Santa Ana.
“This year’s proposals set a new benchmark for professionalism. It is an honor to bring this event once again to the industry and provide such a valuable platform for these students and outstanding universities,” said David Salisbury, NAIOP SoCal OC Real Estate Challenge Co-Chair and Vice President, U.S. Bank.
Chapman’s graduate student team included: Evelyn Aguirre, Asi Ansari, Even Chevalier, Alexander de Brito, and Isabella Webster. The UCI graduate team consisted of Edward Castillo, Alyssa Govindan, Mingy Pham Ho, Nick Severson, and Suresh Rathod-Sushrut.
To claim victory, the Chapman team accumulated the most points during written and oral presentations to an industry-leading judging panel comprised of Mike Adey, KBC Advisors; Steve Hong, SKH Architects; Brad Kollar, Uprite Construction; Victoria Taylor Madrid, CenterSquare Investment Management LLC; Alvaro Nunez, City of Santa Ana; Sergio Ramirez, City of Anaheim, Bill Shopoff, Shopoff Realty Investments, LP; Fernando Villa, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP; Graham Wahlberg, Goodman, along with the event’s live audience.
“The Orange County Real Estate Challenge is a critical component of NAIOP SoCal’s commitment to the future of the industry. As this event has evolved, we have showcased unique sites, providing our student teams a rich canvas to work with as they develop their proposal presentations. I want to thank our site sponsor, the city of Santa Ana, for offering this unique site as the centerpiece of our 2025 challenge,” said NAIOP SoCal CEO Tim Jemal.
The challenge event also featured remarks by UCI honorary team captain and alumnus Christopher Tipre, Principal, Trammell Crow along with Chapman University honorary team captain and alumnus Nancy Moses, Principal, Trammell Crow.
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