The Detroit chapter of
Commercial Real Estate Women Detroit is making its CREW Careers Building Opportunities even bigger and better this year, doubling it in size from its first outing last year.
Last year members of CREW worked with 23 female Detroit high school students. The first year was such a success CREW expanded the program to include 48 young women, even though 70 applied to take part this year. The event, which will be held on April 28, introduces high school age girls to the fundamentals of commercial real estate and career opportunities within the industry by women working in it today.
"They thought real estate was just for men," says Alicia Buisst, director of outreach for CREW and a vice president of real-estate capital at Key Bank in Ann Arbor. "They thought it was just houses. They didn't know about commercial."
This year the women will focus on sustainability, technology and self empowerment, focusing on retail opportunities in downtown Detroit. The students from Detroit Public School’s Randolph Career & Technical Education High School will work with members of CREW a few times in their school before going to big event at the Detroit Opera House.
The women will take a hardhat tour of the subject building and a vacant retail space near the Opera House. They will use that as the basis for working in teams to create redevelopment plans for the building.
Source: Alicia Buisst, director of outreach for Commercial Real Estate Women Detroit and a vice president of real-estate capital at Key Bank in Ann Arbor
Writer: Jon Zemke
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