Real-world dynamic for BC's Corcoran Case Competition

Boston College’s annual Corcoran Case Competition provides practical
simulations in affordable housing planning for undergraduates, but as
this year’s edition demonstrated, reality often hovers close by.

On April 25, the competition’s four finalists submitted their visions for
affordable housing that would be located at the site of Nashville’s
Nissan Stadium, current home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, to a panel
of judges that included two prominent Nashville officials.

The next day, the Metropolitan Nashville Council formally approved the
Titans’ new $2.1 billion stadium, opening up some 100 acres of land for
redevelopment at what is now Nissan Stadium.

“We’re trying to  bring students actively into a conversation with real-world, ongoing  planning processes,” said Taylor Perkins, competition director and  associate director of the Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and  Urban Action, housed in the Carroll School of Management.  “The goal is  to educate and expose talented students to the field of affordable  housing and the diverse range of opportunities within that field.”  

The contest kicked off for the fifth time in March with two online workshops during which the record-setting 56 undergraduate teams, representing 22 universities, learned about affordable housing and urban development issues from industry experts. Perkins noted that the competition strives to increase representation within the affordable housing industry, and invites teams from a diverse array of colleges, including Hampton University, a historically Black college in Hampton,
Va. More than 20 BC teams participated.  

A panel of four judges, including Nashville Deputy Mayor Sam Wilcox and Director of Economic  Development LaTanya Channel, selected the four finalists, each of whom  had 15 minutes to present its case online. In the end, Temple University won the $5,000 first prize for its proposed $35 million East River  Apartments project, which would offer 72 units of affordable housing.  The four-story facility would include a computer lab, two laundry rooms, a creative studio, classroom space, and a recreational rooftop; more  than 80 parking spaces would be available to tenants, along with a  ZipCar station, and bicycle parking.  

“[Temple] separated  themselves through their professionalism, creativity, and attention to  detail,” said Wilcox.  “The group’s presentation demonstrated that they  understood both the challenges and opportunities associated with  delivering an affordable housing development on Nashville’s East Bank.   Their overall articulation of the community benefits associated with  their development struck the right balance between aspirational and practical.”

The other finalists were Florida State University,  Georgetown University, and the University of Wisconsin Madison. Joining  Wilcox and Channel on the judges panel were Sharon Wilson Geno,  president of the National Multifamily Housing Council, and Gerald Zais,  Capital One senior director of community finance underwriting and  portfolio management. Corporate sponsors of the event included Capital  One, Citizens Bank, and Red Stone Equity Partners.

Corcoran  Center Executive Director Neil P. McCullagh noted that the case
competition shares the vision of the center’s namesake, Joseph Corcoran
’59, who—inspired by formative years spent in his socioeconomically
diverse Dorchester neighborhood, and as a BC alumnus, by the University’s Ignatian values—pioneered mixed-use affordable housing in  Boston.  Given the profound shortage of affordable housing in the United States, key objectives of the competition are to raise awareness of its need, and to cultivate a crop of students with skill and interest in the field, he said.

“We are elated that more than 200 students from across the country can benefit from the opportunity to learn from  experts, and [to] work on one of most complex challenges in American  society,” he told the Carroll School News team.

The Corcoran Center was established in 2014 through a gift from Corcoran, a former BC trustee and founder and chair of Corcoran Jennison Companies who died in 2020. He taught a Carroll School course that eventually evolved into  the center. The competition was launched in 2019 with the support and  counsel from Darin Davidson, president of the Spokane-based Inland  Group, and Boston Capital, a multifamily housing investment company  whose chair is Jack Manning ’70.