WCOB business students gain global real estate perspective

During a study abroad trip to Spain this past March, six Coastal Carolina University business students met with attorneys from the AvaLaw firm and real estate professionals to gain first-hand knowledge about the international marketplace. The visit received international attention from Spanish newspaper btb.

The students on the trip were Alexis Stein and Vincent McConnell, marketing majors; Corie White, Ethan Isernia and Kayla Kurelko, management majors; and Meghan Gianforte, a communication and marketing double major.

The visit was facilitated by FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation. CCU recently became an academic member of FIABCI and is the first academic institution in the world to become a supporting partner of the International Ethics Coalition, of which FIABCI is a founding member.

The idea to arrange a meeting between the students and AvaLaw firm came about during an encounter at the FIABCI winter business meetings in Brussels earlier this year. Tony Grant, of CCU’s Grant Center for Real Estate and Economic Development, spoke with representatives from AvaLaw firm about the invaluable learning experience the students would have if they met with seasoned international business professionals while in Barcelona during the already scheduled study abroad trip.

While visiting with AvaLaw, students listened to a series of presentations that compared the legal and business culture between Spain and the United States and focused on how foreign investors acquire real estate in Spain. They learned the general real estate requirements in Spain pertaining to location and type of building, appropriate legal structures, professional fees and other costs.

 “My experience traveling to Spain was one I will never forget. It was incredibly eye-opening to see how another country conducts its business,” said Stein. “AvaLaw is an amazing law firm that assists individuals who are looking to purchase property in Spain and are not familiar with the legality of the Spanish real estate market.”

In addition to visiting AvaLaw, the students met with partners at La Casa por el Tejado, an architectural firm specializing in the development of new penthouses in the urban area of the Eixample in Barcelona. The firm identifies existing buildings in the city center, those which have not reached the maximum height allowed by urban planning, and then negotiates the right to build a pre-fabricated penthouse on top of these older buildings.

“The visit taught the students about the connection between culture and the economy and about how companies can profit by finding creative solutions to a problem,” said Yoav Wachsman, associate professor of economics in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration.

Read the full article that ran in btb on March 23 by clicking here.