Master's in Real Estate Development Program

Since the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship’s (CREE) inception a dozen years ago, its advisory board, comprised of the region’s senior leaders from across the real estate industry, has been a staunch supporter of developing the next generation. As both the center and the master’s in real estate development program (MRED) mature, former students who have advanced in the careers and become industry leaders themselves, are coming back to support the program that helped them along their way.

While most students were taking a break from their studies this summer, the student managers of Patriot Real Estate Funds raised $1.25 million for the second student-managed real estate investment fund at George Mason University. The Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship (CREE) at the School of Business established the initial student-managed real estate investment fund in 2018 to provide students of the Masters in Real Estate Development (MRED) program  a unique experiential learning opportunity. With real money raised from outside investors, this is one of only a few similar programs offered at universities across the country, and allows students the chance to study, recommend, and manage investments in commercial real estate properties in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.

A team of students from George Mason University School of Business’ master of science in real estate development (MRED) program recently won the NAIOP MD/DC Chapter’s 2022 Capital Challenge. This year’s win marks the program’s fifth victory in the Capitol Challenge in the last ten years.

C. Kat Grimsley, former director of the Masters in Real Estate Development program at Mason, was one of six co-authors and core researchers on a recent U.N. report on affordable housing, in line with United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)’s #Housing2030 initiative.

C. Kat Grimsley, former director of the MS in Real Estate Development program, has made international engagement a central part of her professional career.

If you imagine that commercial real estate development would be a classic male-dominated profession, you’d be right. “When I started in commercial real estate in 2001, I worked a commercial brokerage firm,” says Kat Grimsley, PhD, former director of the Master of Science in Real Estate Development program at the George Mason University School of Business.

George Mason University’s School of Business is committed to the active-duty military service members and veterans who come to Mason to enhance their education. Meet three recent graduates who have taken advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill as they share their reasons for attending Mason’s School of Business and their advice to others following in their footsteps.