33rd annual UC Real Estate Center Dinner celebrates vibrant Cincinnati real estate community
Titans of real estate, student impact praised at annual gathering
Nearly 600 real estate professionals, students, alumni and supporters packed Cincinnati Music Hall on June 12 for the University of Cincinnati Real Estate Center’s 33rd annual Real Estate Dinner. Attendees showed out to celebrate Lindner’s real estate students and the night’s top honoree Gregg Fusaro, partner, CIG Communities, recipient of the Distinguished Service Award.
Gary Painter, professor and BEARE Chair of Real Estate and academic director of the real estate program, opened the evening’s festivities. Painter filled in for the center’s Executive Director Carl Goertemoeller, who was unable to attend.
Painter paid respects to the late Snowden Armstrong, a longtime supporter of the UC Real Estate Center, founding member of the Roundtable event series and a fixture in the Cincinnati real estate community.
“The mission of the Real Estate Center is to continue the legacy left by Snowden and many others, creating opportunities that empower students to blaze their own trails in real estate — through rigorous curriculum and in-classroom experiences, to on-site company visits and mentors, to engagement with the Cincinnati real estate community through our Roundtable series and finally through co-op and internship opportunities and eventually full-time work with many of the companies we see represented here tonight.”
Warren Weber, PNC Bank Regional President of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky, welcomes attendees.
Warren Weber, PNC Bank Regional President of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky, then took to the podium to offer his greetings to the crowd. Weber called attention to UC and the real estate program’s growth, heralding the university’s record enrollment of nearly 51,000 students and the economic impact of those students in the region.
“UC is one of the top public universities in the nation for co-op and internships. This innovative approach to experience-based learning delivers a significant economic boost to our region with $10.6 billion in added income to the local business community, which roughly equates to a little more than 125,000 jobs,” cited Weber. “To put that in perspective, that means that one out of every 12 jobs in the Cincinnati region is supported by the activities of the university and its students. “
2024 annual dinner chair Marianne Taylor, senior associate at CBRE, followed Weber to thank the evening’s sponsors and members of the Real Estate Executive Advisory Council (REEAC).
Corporate Sponsors
- Al. Neyer
- CIG Communities
- First Financial Bank
- STNL Development
- Strauss Troy
- Taft Law
Bearcat Sponsors
- Bellwether Enterprise
- CBRE
- Civil and Environmental Consultants
- FC Cincinnati
- Lee & Associates
- Marcus & Millichap
- Midland Atlantic Properties
- PLK Communities
- REDI Cincinnati
Individual Sponsors
- 3CDC
- Basis Companies
- Central Bank
- Cincinnati Commercial Contracting
- Cincinnati Development fund
- Elevar Design Group Inc.
- Fath Properties
- First Highland Management & Development Corp
- Oswald Companies
- Oyler Hines of Coldwell Banker
- RiskSOURCE/OneDigital
- Thompson Hine
- Thunderdome Restaurant Group
- Triversity Construction
- VanTrust Real Estate
Painter returned to the stage to acknowledge the accomplishments of real estate students over the previous year, including the annual Real Estate Career Fair and travels throughout the country to connect with real estate professionals and Lindner alumni.
High honors for real estate students
The night’s celebrations continued as Painter recognized the 2023-24 real estate scholarship recipients and to honor Gracie Criger, BBA ’24, the 2024 Undergraduate Student of the Year.
Scholarship awards for the year topped $38,000, with funds awarded to 16 students.
Actively engaged with the UC Real Estate Center throughout her undergraduate career, Criger recalled being mentored by Fusaro and how the center helped propel her career forward during her acceptance speech.
“Participating in the mentorship program, I was paired with the one and only, Gregg Fusaro, who immediately took me under his wing and was eager to help me in every way possible. He continually connected me with professionals, gave me seasoned advice, but most importantly, he was a listening ear to a pressured college student in the job search process.”
- BEARE Scholars
- Prem Patel
- Kathryn Warner
- Neyer Properties Scholarship
- Erica Boling
- Patrick Claggett
- Dean Misleh
- Jonathan Patla
- Carl E. Segal Scholarship
- Brady Burden
- Billy Kander
- Monique Mauler
- Jack Su
- ttles
- James B. Selonick Scholarship
- Carter Eilers
- Ashton Isler
- Chase Mc
- Gugin
- External Scholarships
- Declan Ashcraft, UC-ICSC Foundation Scholarship
- Brendan Barker, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Chapter of NAIOP Scholarship
- Jonathan Patla, Ohio REALTORS Scholarship
From left to right: PNC Bank Regional President Warren Weber; PNC Bank Senior Vice President Pam Weber; BEARE Chair of Real Estate and Academic Director of the Real Estate Program Gary Painter, PhD; CBRE Senior Associate and Dinner Chair Marianne Taylor; Western & Southern Senior Vice President of Economic Development Mario San Marco; and Distinguished Service Awardee Gregg Fusaro.
The man of the hour
Kathy Bergen, co-founder of CIG Communities, introduced Fusaro and presented him with the 2024 Distinguished Service Award. Bergen spoke of the fruitful working relationship she found with Fusaro and how his expertise has allowed CIG Communities to grow throughout the Cincinnati region and beyond.
“What is so wonderful about working with Gregg is his encyclopedic knowledge of the Cincinnati market and all the players in it. He knows everyone in town. And he is absolutely respected and liked by everyone in town,” hailed Bergen. “Our working relationship and partnership have evolved into a deep friendship with him and his family over the years.”
Gregg Fusaro recalled memorable moments from his career as he accepted the Distinguished Service Award.
Accepting the prestigious honor of Distinguished Service Awardee, Fusaro used his time on the stage to acknowledge the collective effort from all of those in attendance to get him to this point in his career.
“I'm extremely honored to be receiving this award. And I'm really excited to be sharing it with you. I feel like I know most of you that we've either worked together collaborating on something or been involved in some real estate transaction over the last 40 some years,” remarked Fusaro. “So, for me, this award is not about me; it's about us and what collectively we have accomplished in this community. From all the great real estate development investments to the charitable work that we've done, and to the effort we've put in to make the UC Real Estate Center bigger and better, which creates better students. And that turn is very fulfilling.”
Fusaro closed the evening by thanking the Real Estate Center team and Lindner Dean Marianne Lewis, PhD, for the work they have put in to nurture the Cincinnati real estate community by supplying superior talent.
In conversation with Dean Lewis, hear Fusaro expand on his connections to Lindner, cultivating talent in Cincinnati's real estate community and the important lessons he's learned along the way in the below episode of Lindner's Bearcats Mean Business podcast.
Featured image at top: Distinguished Service Awardee Gregg Fusaro (center, left) poses with real estate students and scholarship recipients including Undergraduate Student of the Year, Gracie Criger (center, right). Photos by Joseph Fuqua II.
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