Area Business Owner Appointed Interim Director of Everitt Real Estate Center at Colorado State University

Eric Holsapple, a longtime Northern Colorado business owner and major Colorado State University donor, has been named interim director of the Everitt Real Estate Center in Colorado State’s College of Business.

"We are very fortunate to have Eric as the interim director of the Everitt Real Estate Center," said Bob Everitt, owner of the Everitt Companies. "With his experience in the development and real estate business in the private sector and his connection as a professor in the business school – he was one of the people who was instrumental in putting the center together – we have the right person to carry the center forward in a very positive way. We could not have picked a better person."

Last fall, the university honored the Everitt family and the Everitt Companies for a $2.5 million gift to the College of Business – the college’s largest ever. Holsapple and Don Marostica, Colorado State alumni and owners of Loveland Commercial LLC, created the Loveland Commercial Endowed Chair of Real Estate in 2004 with a $1.5 million gift to the College of Business.

"The real estate center helps to bridge the gap between the university and the community," Holsapple said. "We’re also working on a business plan to do more research so it’s a valuable information source for the real estate community."

The center employs two full-time staff members – Ron Surace, who is the executive director, and Anne Spry – and hosts quarterly events for the community and real estate professionals. The 10th annual Northern Colorado Real Estate Conference will be from 7:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the Fort Collins Marriott.

Topics include the housing and retail markets and perspectives on Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs.

To register, call (970) 491-5522 or go to http://www.biz.colostate.edu/ciref/Documents/Events_2006/Registration%20Form%2006.pdf.

Students are actively involved in the quarterly events. Additionally, in recent years, Holsapple and other members of the center’s advisory board have helped create nearly 70 internships for real estate students.

"We want students to have some real experience when they graduate," he said, estimating that about 100 graduates have obtained their real estate license after graduating from the college’s real estate program.

Real estate professionals are invited to purchase memberships in the Everitt Real Estate Center. Paid memberships ranging from associate member to lifetime member include free admission to quarterly events, continuing education credits for brokers, opportunities to attend private events, interdisciplinary education and networking and a single-point-of-contact to university resources.

Students who complete degrees in the finance and real estate concentrations at Colorado State’s College of Business work in areas of real estate including lending, managing commercial properties, analyzing mortgage backed securities for mutual funds or other financial institutions, underwriting mortgage loans, risk management and managing real estate portfolios.

"Our students learn the most about the working world through our very successful partnerships with Loveland Commercial and Everitt Companies and many other businesses in the community," said Dean Ajay Menon. "We highly value our relationships with the region’s employers, and no one has done more for us than Eric Holsapple and Bob Everitt."

Holsapple received his MBA at Colorado State in 1984 followed by his doctoral degree in economics in 1996. He has taught real estate courses as an adjunct professor since 1995.

Holsapple has worked in commercial real estate since 1984. He worked for the Pennant Group of Australia, where he was responsible for U.S. operations and oversaw the development and investment of institutional grade real estate throughout the country. He started his own real estate consulting and investment firm in 1990 in New England; in 1993, he relocated his family back to Northern Colorado to focus on investments in the area which allowed him to pursue his doctoral degree in economics and study trends in international real estate. Since graduating in 1996, he has been a partner in Loveland Commercial where he is involved in a variety of real estate developments including affordable housing, mixed-use subdivisions and commercial shopping centers.

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