This post was written by Dan Jackson, a 2012 UST MBA graduate. Dan completed many of his electives in real estate including participation in the spring 2012 REAL 714 International Real Estate Development course in the Cayman Islands.
Ben Bastian, Production Analyst at CBRE
A trip up 1,000 feet in North America’s fastest elevators and 360 degree views of Lake Michigan, the Magnificent Mile, the rest of Chicagoland and Las Vegas are just a few things that Class of 2005 alumnus, Ben Bastian, states as his most memorable experience at the University of St. Thomas (UST). He took the trip as a member of the UST Real Estate Club. “During my undergraduate experience, collaboration between the CBRE offices in Minneapolis and UST started. Through the Real Estate Club, we planned a trip to Chicago that focused on touring and learning more about various properties in the Chicago central business district (CBD). We toured a couple properties; the most recognizable property was the John Hancock Tower. What was even more amazing about this trip was that we were able to venture out onto the roof of the Hancock building to enjoy the view,” stated Bastian. Ben adds, “Another memorable experience was a trip to Las Vegas that was partly funded by the winning proceeds from the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP) University Challenge. Similar to the Chicago trip, we were able to tour local office buildings, including the Bellagio.”
Currently, Ben is a Production Analyst with the Minneapolis Debt & Equity Finance team within the Capital Markets Group at CBRE. He has been in his position at CBRE for seven months, and previously was an analyst in investment sales at Cushman & Wakefield. When asked to describe his typical work day, Ben stated, “I work a lot with numbers and perform financial analysis on prospective and current deals; I use Argus for financial modeling on most properties. Other things that take place in my day include – property tours with lenders, meetings with attorneys, prospective clients and conversations with lenders to market our current assignments.” He continues to explain, “In a typical day I am dealing with clients who may have a property under contract to purchase or they are looking to refinance a property that they own. Our primary goal is to be able to analyze the property, which involves determining the value, figuring out what elements are driving the value and taking this information to the market after thorough research has been completed. All of this information is presented in a financing request package to the lenders to obtain their feedback about whether or not they want to make a loan on the property.”
