Graduate students affiliated with the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate will keep the coveted Silver Shovel for one more year, thanks to an April 18 victory over challenger University of California, Los Angeles in the fifth annual National Association of Industrial and Office Properties Southern California USC/UCLA Real Estate Challenge. The team of five USC students from the Marshall School of Business MBA Program and the School of Policy, Planning and Development Masters in Real Estate Development Program created a winning plan to redevelop an industrial site in downtown Los Angeles.
The proposal included relocating tenants in the Seventh Street Produce Market to create 250 live/work units along with commercial and retail space, in addition to developing 350,000 square feet of produce distribution space. A panel of 20 real estate industry leaders judged the students' presentations. The winning team included David DePriest, Loren Borstein, Roberto Smith Macdonald, Adam Smith and Gail Tubbs. USC professor David Dale-Johnson is the faculty advisor for the team.