Throughout 2025, the Real Estate Program has led illuminating faculty research, immersive student-alumni collaborations and productive thought leadership.
Read about the Real Estate Program’s impact below.
Faculty research exposes gender inequality in residential real estate
Research by Athena Tsouderou, assistant professor of finance at Miami Herbert, and Selale Tuzel, professor of finance at the USC Marshall School of Business, revealed that single women tend to pay higher mortgage interest rates compared with men; they are also less likely to refinance when interest rates fall.
The study also suggested that mathematical proficiency may be a key factor behind these disparities.
"A surprising finding from our research is that the financial literacy gap between men and women in the United States actually widens with education,” Tsouderou said. “While financial literacy for men continues to rise with college education, it tends to level off for women. This growing gap has real consequences—it affects the mortgage terms people choose and whether they make optimal refinancing decisions."
Alumni engages and educates undergrads in her team’s $3.5 billion–refinancing of Rockefeller Center
Emarie Bohanon (B.B.A. ’16), senior director at Tishman Speyer, provided 12 undergraduates an insider’s view of her team’s groundbreaking refinancing of Rockefeller Center—the largest single-asset CMBS transaction for an office property in history, and the deal that reopened the SASB CMBS market. Bohanon and her team are also responsible for the $2.85 billion–refinancing of The Spiral.
While students benefited from their exclusive and memorable visit to Rockefeller Center, they also saw how a Miami Herbert alumnus is succeeding in today’s evolving real estate market.
Ninth Annual Impact Investing in Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Case Competition is Miami Herbert’s largest to date
Inspiring nearly 125 students from nine top U.S. and Canadian universities, this year’s CRE case competition brought out the best in future real estate leaders and disruptors who submitted 17 projects addressing critical urban problems.
In the undergraduate division, recent University of Miami graduates Yamo Deniz (’25), Adem Murad (’25) and Fatima Navarro (’24) earned first place and took home a $15,000 prize for their concept, The Nest, an eight-story mixed-income housing project for Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood. By rezoning industrial land for residential use, the team reduced costs. Their plan also included modular construction, sustainable design and smart home tech—with 30% of the units reserved for affordable housing.
For the graduate division, a Columbia University team won for their urban revitalization concept. Learn more about this year’s competition.
Real Estate Impact Conference garners 500 top commercial real estate leaders and $1 million in sponsorships
Co-hosted by the Miami Herbert Business School, the School of Architecture and the School of Law, the 15th Annual Real Estate Impact Conference was headlined by Lauren Hochfelder, Co-CEO of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing-Americas; Rana Ghorayeb, Head of Real Estate Investing for CDPQ; Andy Gloor, CEO of Sterling Bay; and Josh Sirefman, CEO of Michigan Central.
Conversations focused on AI’s transformative impact and emerging technologies on investment strategies and blueprints for successful public-private partnerships. Watch individual Conference sessions here.
To learn more about the Miami Herbert Real Estate Program, email Andrea Heuson, aheuson@miami.edu.
