by, Shannon Gleba & Pete Janny, Senior Writer & Sports Editor
Manhattan College students have the opportunity to pursue a minor in real estate through the O’Malley School of Business beginning this semester. The announcement comes after the formation of the Real Estate Club during the previous academic year.
Richard Ross, who acts as the real estate program director that oversees the formation of the curriculum, believes it is important for students to consider a career in real estate in the booming market of New York City.
“New York City is a world class global city that has excellent market-rate rents in every real estate product type (Retail, Residential, Commercial and Warehouse),” Ross said. “In addition, NYC is recognized as having the best affordable housing agency in the world (HPD), which provides tax abatements, tax credits, low-interest loans and grants to subsidize affordable housing development. Finally, because NYC is so large, there is always a corner of the city that is ripe for development.”
Senior economics major, Aidan Gormley, chose to help launch the Real Estate Club for similar reasons and now is the president of the club. Gormley touted the networking opportunities within the real estate industry as being a valuable asset for undergraduate students at the college.
“There is such an importance to educating students about real estate because of the college’s location in NYC,” said Gormley. “There is a huge market for real estate in New York City and there are plenty of alumni hiring, which makes it equally important and beneficial.”
Since the introduction of the minor, Ross has seen an influx of students interested in the curriculum’s courses. Having taught classes since spring 2020, Ross is excited about keeping the momentum going in future semesters and sees the real estate minor as a practical compliment to almost any concentration offered in the O’Malley School of Business.
“Right now, students with majors in every business-discipline as majors also want to minor in real estate,” Ross said. “This includes finance, marketing, management and accounting. Also, students in urban studies want to minor in real estate. These majors are all natural partners with real estate.”
Gormley, who has participated in internships with real estate firms, wishes the minor was available earlier in his college career. Now as a senior, Gormley has taken to being an advocate for why students should consider the minor.
“Overall, I think it’s a great program and the information learned in classes is exactly what you will need for the real world,” Gormley said. “If the minor had been around before my senior year, I know I would have taken advantage of the opportunity.”
As of now, only students enrolled in the O’Malley School of Business are eligible to add the real estate minor to their course of study. However, as the curriculum continues to develop, Ross hopes that real estate will be an option for every student at the college regardless of academic major.
“We also want non-business undergraduates, such as Liberal Arts and Engineering majors, to be able to minor in real estate. We are working on a curriculum to make that possible in the near future.”
If all goes well with the pilot program, Ross expects there to be serious discussions on adding a Master of Science in real estate in the future.
In the meantime, the ongoing complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have created abnormalities in the real estate market. In January, house prices in New York City represented the steepest year-to-year drop ever, with Manhattan and Brooklyn experiencing 6.2 and 5.4 percent drops respectively, according to Bloomberg News.
Students are encouraged to engage with faculty members and understand what the real estate program has to offer at Manhattan College as times consistently are changing.