Lee NYC partners with SuitUp and Baychester Middle School for a day of commercial real estate mentorship

New York, NY Lee & Associates NYC has welcomed more than 20 students from Baychester Middle School to their office for a creative introduction to commercial real estate. The students were connected with the full-service real estate brokerage thanks to SuitUp, an organization that matches companies with schools in low-income communities and facilitates business competitions using corporate volunteers and real office space.

In addition to a monetary donation on behalf of Lee NYC, 20 real estate brokers and staff members volunteered their time as coaches at the event, with design elements provided by the firm’s in-house marketing department. By exposing these kids to a variety of companies, the SuitUp team hopes to help them realize all of the different career options that are within their reach.

“This was an incredibly rewarding event in which to participate,” said James Wacht, president of Lee NYC, who also served as a judge of the day’s business case competition. “It was truly gratifying to watch the Lee team excitedly sharing their passion for real estate with the kids. As we greatly admire what this organization is doing for these students, we look forward to continuing this newly minted partnership with SuitUp.”

The SuitUp case competitions are customized based on the hosting company. For the Lee NYC event, the challenge was to develop a property in the Bronx that Nike had purchased. With the help of the Lee NYC coaches, the students had to think through the leasing strategy, marketing process and finance challenges involved in this project. In the past, SuitUp has partnered with a variety of companies in the media, finance and technology industries.