Foundation & Associates Support NAIOP University Challenges

Since the beginning, community stewardship has been a core value of Opus and the Opus Foundation. Supporting projects that impact communities in which our associates live and work creates meaningful and lasting synergies. This year, we were proud to continue support for NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, University Challenges in three of our markets—Denver, Indianapolis and Minneapolis.

Sponsored by the local NAIOP chapters, the University Challenge gives commercial real estate students opportunities to roll up their sleeves and create real-life real estate development proposals for specific properties in their region. In the Challenge, student teams compete to create a vision for the property by conducting research to determine best uses and working with local architectural firms to assist with details like the project design, zoning and entitlements. The team’s proposals are judged by real estate experts, and the Opus Foundation awards scholarship funds to the winning teams.

This year’s winners are:

• Denver: University of Colorado (1st place) and Denver University (runner up)
• Minneapolis: University of Wisconsin – Madison (1st place), Marquette University (2nd place) and University of Minnesota (3rd place)
• Indianapolis: University of Indianapolis (1st place)

Supporting educational programs is a natural fit for the Opus Foundation and Opus.

The Opus Foundation, the corporate foundation for Opus, is building community for a better tomorrow by supporting projects and programs that make our communities better places to live, work and raise families. The Foundation is committed to improving conditions that disproportionately affect historically underinvested individuals and communities by focusing on early childhood education, youth development, workforce development and community revitalization. Read more about the Foundation's work. The Opus Foundation is a separate entity from The Opus Group and is led by its own Board of Directors.