On May 14, invited by Urban Land Institution, the largest non-profitable public benefit educational organization in global real estate industry, SPEA real estate department leader Prof. Chen Jie, together with junior student Nan Jingyang, Huang Ting, freshman Gong Haotian, attended ULI Shanghai Lunch Meeting and had lunch together with Mr. Robert Pratt, Managing Director and Global Co-head of Design and Construction, Tishman. This lunch meeting improved our SPEA influence in the industry, and broadened our students’ knowledge in companies’ development and operation.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Pratt shared the general situation of Tishman’s operation. Tishman, founded in 1978 and based in US, is a global top tier developer, operator, and fund operation company in real estate industry. The value of its overall management assets reached 71.7 billion USD, while its management projects reached 370 and total area reached 124 million square feet. In China, Tishman entered the markets of Shanghai, Suzhou, Tianjin, and Chengdu successively, and attracted great attention in the industry with its advanced development and management model.
Mr. Robert Pratt introduces Tishman
In the following Q&A session, junior student Huang Ting mentioned that, whether Tishman would stick to their expanding strategy in China while China’s economic growth slowed down. Mr. Pratt agreed that real estate industry faces severe stress in second and third class cities, however, in first tier cities, the situation is much better than expectation and Company would continue their investment. At the same time, he believed that, with strong support from the government, China would still increase in a remarkable speed and Tishman would of course stick to the investment in China. Freshman Gong Haotian asked whether Tishman would recruit Chinese students. Mr. Pratt said yes. In his opinion, college students is a group full of creation and it would be a great help for company’s localization strategy. Mr. Pratt also gave detailed answers to some other valuable questions on housing design, project planning and crisis management.
Prof. Chen Jie talks with Mr. Pratt
The one-hour lunch meeting ended in a joyful atmosphere. Prof. Chen Jie leaded the students to exchange name card with presented industry celebrities like professor of Shanghai Jiaotong University, planning and designing director of Shui on, and deputy general manager of US P+R firm. This meeting provided a good opportunity for students to interact with industry seniors, learn more vivid industry knowledge, strengthened their confidence in this industry and aroused their learning passion.
Prof. Chen Jie and attended students