In April the School of Business hosted its first annual Graduate Real Estate Competition, awarding more than $20,000 in prize money to student teams.

GW’s team placed first out of 19 teams, netting a prize of $15,000. The team of four students included M.B.A. candidates Evan Weisman, Jason Morris, Paul Fritz and John Dalton. The team from University of Pennsylvania came in second place, and the team from Texas A&M won third prize.

The competition was sponsored by GW’s Real Estate Investment and Development Organization and Walnut Street Development, LLC, a residential real estate developer based in Fairfax, Va.

The winning GW team recommended that Walnut Street Development partner with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to redesign the Huntington Metro station located in Alexandria, Va. The plan calls for construction of a green building to house retail, parking and residential condominiums.

Proposals were judged on their creativity, economic feasibility and design.

The six finalist teams, in addition to those listed as prizewinners, came from the University of Cincinnati and Southern Methodist University (Texas). GW had two competing teams.

According to a news press release, Rob Rosenfeld, CEO of District-based real estate company JBG and a competition judge, said the GW proposal “won because it was the best combination of all elements, even though other teams had some more out-of-the-box concepts.”

REIDO is a student organization affiliated with the GW School of Business’ M.B.A. program.