UA Center’s Commercial Real Estate Conference to Feature Variety of Topics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Anyone connected with the commercial real estate business should be able to find something useful and interesting at the Alabama Commercial Real Estate Conference scheduled for Friday, Jan. 18 at the Birmingham/Jefferson County Civic Center/ Sheraton Hotel. The conference is presented by the Alabama Center for Real Estate, which is part of The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce.

The keynote and luncheon speaker will be Neal Wade, director of the Alabama Development Office. The conference also will include the following sessions: “Cutting Edge Technology Tools for RE Marketing,” by Jim Andrews, president of Litho Publishing Co.; “2008 Alabama Economic Outlook,” by Ahmad Ijaz, economic analyst at the Center for Business and Economic Research at UA; “Web-Based Market Analysis for Identifying and Supporting Site Selection Opportunities,” by Chuck Branch, president and CEO of Decision Data Resources; “Financing Your Commercial RE Project in Today’s Market,” featuring a roundtable of industry representatives and moderated by Chad Hagwood, senior vice president, Capmark Finance Inc.; “Beyond the Why-Learn How to Go Green,” by Chris Miller, Piedmont Green Building Solutions Inc.; “10 Secrets of the 1031 Exchange,” by Denise Evans, Premier Properties Inc. and adjunct professor of real estate in the Culverhouse School of Business; and “Alabama Improvement Districts Case Studies – What are they? How do they Work?” by Pfilip Hunt, president, Gardnyr Michael Capital.

Conference participants are eligible to receive six hours of elective continuing education credits that can be applied toward their real estate license renewal.

“This conference will provide a forum for people in the commercial real estate industry to stay connected to current issues and developments that affect their business,” said J. Grayson Glaze, executive director of UA’s Alabama Center for Real Estate. “We decided to move the conference to Birmingham to allow greater access for real estate practitioners from around the state. We also decided this year to present concurrent sessions to give the people attending a greater choice of topics.”

Sandra Drummond, education coordinator for the Alabama Center for Real Estate, said all Realtors must earn 15 continuing education credits by the end of August 2008, and the conference will provide six hours if a licensed Realtor attends the entire conference or four of the one-hour sessions.

“In addition to the conference itself and the CEU aspect, this is a great opportunity to develop relationships that may be valuable in the future,” Drummond said. “Burr & Forman will host a reception the night before the conference and scheduled breaks during the day will provide excellent networking opportunities.”

Sponsors include The Birmingham Business Journal, the Alabama Association of REALTORS, Bradley Arant law firm, the Birmingham Association of Realtors, Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute, the Institute of Real Estate Managers, the Mortgage Bankers Association of Alabama Inc., Alabama Housing Finance Authority, Wachovia Small Business Capital and Wachovia Real Estate Finance Services, Alabama Power, CapMark, Trust Building Services, Citizens Trust Bank, Salia Construction, Jefferson Title, Grandbridge, Land America, Latta Plumbing, Birmingham CREW, Newbanks Inc., Graham & Co., Land Title Co. of Alabama, and Alfa Properties.

For more information, or to register for the conference, phone UA’s Alabama Center for Real Estate, 205/348-4117, or, go to http://arerec.cba.ua.edu/pdfs/acre-registration_form.pdf.

The Alabama Center for Real Estate is part of The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, which was established in 1919. In 1929, the business school became the 38th school to earn admission into the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. The excellence of the UA business school has been acknowledged on a national level. The undergraduate program is ranked 29th among public universities by U.S. News, and the Culverhouse School of Accountancy is ranked 15th among public universities by U.S. News. The graduate accounting program is ranked 15th and the undergraduate program 14th by Public Accounting Report. The entrepreneurship program is ranked No. 18 by Entrepreneur Magazine.