Renowned real estate executives Mosler and Mechanic to address Lehigh on Nov. 13

	Bruce Mosler

Over the course of the fall semester, more than 40 of the nation’s most prominent real estate professionals will travel to Lehigh’s campus in Bethlehem, Pa. to share their insider’s perspective on the industry during the 2007-2008 ire@l Speaker Series.

The ire@l (Integrated real estate at Lehigh) forum is underwritten by a gift from Louis P. Pektor III G’73, owner and president of regionally-based Ashley Development Corporation.

Headlining the series are Bruce Mosler, chief executive officer of Cushman & Wakefield, and Jonathan Mechanic, partner and chair of the real estate department at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson (Fried Frank). Both will speak to the Lehigh community at 4:15 p.m. on November 13, when they visit Iacocca Hall on Lehigh’s Mountaintop Campus.

“Interest in our ire@l program has soared because we offer students unusual insight into commercial real estate,” says Stephen Thode, director of the Murray H. Goodman Center for Real Estate Studies. “This particular slate of speakers shows how committed we are to establishing a nationally-recognized real estate program that is unique to Lehigh.”

That commitment is on display on a new interdisciplinary Web page, which features a slideshow of Manhattan properties that ire@l students will be studying throughout the course of the year. Podcasts and streaming video of a past project are just some of the other multimedia offerings featured on the site.

“Transforming the commercial real estate landscape”

	Jonathan Mechanic

Mosler and Mechanic will take the stage together to discuss their careers and provide their personal perspectives on recent noteworthy real estate transactions. They’ll also share forecasts for the commercial real estate market in New York.

Mosler presides over the world’s largest privately held global real estate services firm, Cushman & Wakefield. The international agency is the exclusive leasing agent for the proposed 2.6 million square foot 1 World Trade Center—otherwise known as the Freedom Tower.

Following September 11, 2001, the Office of the Mayor of the City of New York selected Mosler to serve on the Professional Services Advisory Council of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. He has recently been honored as Real Estate Industry Executive of the Year and has established his firm as a leader in the industrial, multifamily and retail brokerage practices.

Mechanic has been named a “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer for his role in the $5.4 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, New York City’s largest apartment complex. He was also recognized with the prestigious The Chambers Award for Excellence in 2006 by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Not only has the renowned real estate lawyer from Fried Frank taught real estate transactions at Harvard Law School, but he regularly lectures at such prominent professional venues as the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the Real Estate Board of New York.

“We’re incredibly honored to have two of the real estate industry’s most respected individuals joining us here at Lehigh,” says Thode. “This speaker series is an important part of the ire@l experience because it gives our students the opportunity to interact with the people who are charged with transforming the commercial real estate landscape.”

During the inaugural year of the speaker series, leading real estate executives Barry Gosin of Newmark Knight Frank and Marc Holliday of SL Green Realty Corp. were included among the speakers appearing at Lehigh.

--Tom Yencho