Purpose

The purpose of this development plan is to provide a discussion document to reach a consensus on goals, objectives, and programs for HHASI and related Hoyt Group activities.

The Homer Hoyt Institute is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit foundation which is the support organization for the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics of the Maury Seldin Advanced Studies Institute, also a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. Hoyt Advisory Services serves as the R&D unit for the Homer Hoyt Institute. It is a"C" Corporation, subject to federal income taxes and houses activities that may produce unrelated business income including contract and proprietary research. It has created a "C" corporation subsidiary, known as REIT Investment Advisory Services (RIAS), for the purpose of commercializing the Hoyt Model. The Hoyt Model is a proprietary model for valuing REITs and rating risk for diversification.

Background

The Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics was established in 1982 as the Homer Hoyt School of Post-Doctoral Study by the Homer Hoyt Institute (HHI), a District of Columbia non-profit organization. Its purpose was and is "to operate a school, to be known as the Homer Hoyt Institute of Post-Doctoral Study; to support research in land economics and closely related areas and to improve and disseminate the analytical tools thereof; and to carry on all charitable, educational, research, and scientific activities necessary and appropriate to carry out the above purposes."

In April 1982, the Homer Hoyt Institute (HHI) created the Homer Hoyt Institute of Florida, Inc. as a separate entity to serve as the corporate home for the School. HHI then amended its articles of incorporation to become the support organization for the Homer Hoyt Institute of Florida, Inc. and the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics (then known as the Homer Hoyt School of Post-Doctoral Study). In 1985 the Homer Hoyt Institute of Florida became the Maury Seldin Advanced Studies Institute (HHASI), sometimes referred to as the Advanced Studies Institute (ASI).

Leadership

Board of Directors The current ASI Board of Directors is comprised of:

Faculty The current faculty includes all the members of the Board of Directors plus the following:

Fellows

The Weimer School in 1997 had 79 Fellows, Founding Fellows, Honorary Founding Fellow and Honorary Fellows, representing the thought leaders in real estate and related disciplines in institutions of higher education throughout the United States. For a listing of Fellows, please see the ASI web page at www.hoyt.org.

The 1989 Development Plan of the Weimer School recognized that HHI seeks to improve the quality of decision making by enhancing both the private and public sectors' understanding of the systems within which real estate functions. The focus is on improving the tools of analysis.

HHI encourages research to expand and enhance the body of knowledge. The HHI grant program was designed to provide direct support for ASI's Weimer School as the largest single recipient, and to provide support to a number of other recipients who were in turn supporting achievement of the objectives of the Weimer School, ASI, mission. The bulk of the funding, aside from the direct grants to ASI, went to the "named institutions." These institutions were:

Other institutions, the most significant of which were: the University of Connecticut, the University of Georgia, and the University of Kansas, received support through ASI. These grants were administered directly by the Weimer School of the Maury Seldin Advanced Studies Institute.

More recently, while HHI may continue to support some internal research and faculty development grants to provide conceptual leadership and target the directions of programs, the vast majority of current grants is for direct support of the Weimer School.

ASI provides awards biennially to outstanding recent doctoral recipients who are invited to attend a session of the School to present their current research for discussion. ASI also provides dissertation award support for the annual AREUEA/HHASI Dissertation Awards competition. ASI had also provided grants to ARES in support of its annual Doctoral Seminar in which candidates present their research. For a number of years, ASI co-sponsored the annual meetings of the Real Estate Center Directors and Chairholders Association. This informal association involves institutions that engaged in research and development of data bases that supplemented the goals of the HHI/ASI research program.

ASI added a third session in 1989 to deal with the development of analytical systems and theoretical models focussing on land uses. The May session of the Weimer School continued to address this task by sponsoring programs by type of property (residential, office, retail) and then from the perspective of the corporate asset manager as a decision maker, portfolio investors, and public sector decision makers. These programs blended rigor and relevance in research that filled gaps in knowledge at the leading edge of the discipline.

Grants were given to institutions for researchers working on models which ASI saw as most fruitful. These grants were either a set-aside within the HHI annual grant program to named institutions or a grant by ASI to other institutions.

The ASI Newsletter was started in 1985. It continues to be a significant part of the dissemination of news about ASI. Additionally, it historically provides an insert on topics of particular interest to the Hoyt Group mission.

A policy decision was made to expand the breadth of disciplines represented by the Fellows of the Weimer School, with particular attention to urban geography and planning. In 1989, ASI co-sponsored a seminar on GIS with HHI. The seminar furthered the diversification of disciplines and broadened the interdisciplinary focus of the Weimer School.

The School does not discriminate by race, creed, color, ethnic or national origin. Scholars from minority groups and from diverse disciplines are sought out in the belief that diversity is an attribute that will assist in enhancing the body of knowledge and improvement in the quality of real estate decisions.

ASI and HHI have worked at developing industry relationships. The aim of the Weimer School is to educate the educator by providing both relevance and rigor in their research. The School has had an on-going policy of inviting leaders in the real estate industry to share their concerns and insights at sessions of the School. The interaction between Fellows and real estate professionals has proved to be very rewarding.

HHI and ASI also have held co-sponsored programs. With the ICSC, an agenda for research was derived. With the Real Estate Counselors of America, issues of concern in valuation of real property were explored. Such programs provide a venue of interaction and also enhance the public relations of the Institute and School.

Curtailment in endowment earnings resulted in a 1995 programmatic adjustment of the Weimer School's supportive activities. The basic program continues with the objectives of achieving a sustainable level of activity at which the School could operate indefinitely and encouraging increased faculty participation in operations. Some of the School's adjunct activities were curtailed; other aspects of the School's operations were expanded.

Sessions Change

In 1997, the Weimer School returned to a two-session per year format from the three sessions instituted in 1989. The second session in 1997 was increased by one day to permit incorporation of content previously included in the third session, which had emphasized theoretical models and analytical systems applicable to real estate markets and regional economies, as well as instructional techniques such as case studies.

The January session of the Weimer School continues to develop the Fellows of the School. Fellow candidates are invited to present a research topic in their first session and are assigned a faculty sponsor, who monitors progress during the year. Upon completion of the research and successful presentation of findings in the next January session, the candidate achieves Fellow status.

The May session of the Weimer School continues to recognize three post-doctoral awardees, now on an annual basis, and is devoted to a topic of current interest in real estate research and practice. The May session also may be held jointly with real estate professional organizations or other entities which have programs of interest to the Fellows of the Weimer School. The session has been most successful when industry representatives have presented. For instance, one session featured the CEO's of several of the largest and most progressive REITs; in 1997, researchers from Wall Street involved in the issuance and rating of commercial mortgage-backed securities were in attendance (see the ASI newsletter article on the May 1997 Weimer School). Such interaction continues the School's longstanding goal of educating the educator and stimulates interdisciplinary discussion.

Faculty Changes

The number of Weimer School faculty will be increased from 14 to 18 by adding one each year, beginning in 1996. Other goals are the maintenance of the high quality of Weimer School Fellows; continuation of the opportunity for interchange of ideas and networking among Fellows and Fellow Candidates and between Fellows and leading real estate professionals; recognition and encouragement of younger researchers who exhibit exceptional merit; fostering research on topics related to the "real" and spatial dimensions of real estate analysis; recognition of trends in real estate practices and analysis; and encouragement of relevant research in those areas.

Governance Changes

Fellow Selection Procedures Nominations of potential Fellow Candidates are solicited from all present Fellows of the Weimer School and are selected by a committee of Weimer School faculty, chaired by the Dean of the School. The committee meets at the May session with the Faculty designated to be on the committee that May and other faculty in attendance who elect to participate. A recent policy of the Faculty has included nominations of potential international Fellow candidates with the intention of inviting one international Fellow candidate per year.

Post Doctoral Selection Procedures Post-doctoral candidates are now selected by a committee of faculty of the Weimer School after nomination by Fellows and Fellow candidates. The committee meets at the May session; faculty designated to be on the committee that May and any other faculty in attendance constitute the committee.

May Session Themes The May session program theme(s) are now selected by a committee of faculty, chaired by the Dean. One or more faculty assume the responsibility for development of the May session program.

Faculty Additions Faculty of the Weimer School also nominate new faculty for consideration for appointment by the Dean upon ratification by the ASI Board of Directors.

School Program and Expansion

Under consideration are activities that could expand the operation of the School beyond the semi-annual sessions held at the Hoyt Center. Sessions that are jointly sponsored with university real estate centers/programs are examples of such activities. Joint sessions also will be held from time to time for the regular May session of the School, whenever meaningful and appropriate. Such a session was held in May, 1996, with the Real Estate Counselors Group of America.

Outreach Activities

Dissertation Award The Weimer School continues to provide dissertation award support for the annual American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association/HHASI Dissertation Awards competition. The winners are selected by the AREUEA Review Committee. These awards are now made in honor of Dr. Maury Seldin in recognition of his longstanding support of real estate research.

ASI Newsletter Public relations for the Weimer School are designed to enhance its visibility and reputation with both the academic and business communities. The Weimer School Newsletter will continue to be a major component of the public relations program as a vehicle for communication to the Fellows and friends of the Weimer School and as an outlet for research conducted by Hoyt Group entities, which appear as periodic inserts.

Web Site The Hoyt Group has secured a web site (www.hoyt.org) which will be used to showcase Weimer School and other Hoyt Group activities. Research conducted on behalf of Hoyt Group organizations also will be made available on the site. The Hoyt Society, which is HHI's gift receiving unit, will be displayed.

Hoyt Fellow Program The concept of a parallel organization of Hoyt Fellows that recognizes industry leaders in real estate, broadly defined, has been approved by the HHI Board of Directors. Hoyt Fellows would attend a joint session with Weimer School fellows for a portion of the May session. The faculty of the Weimer School enthusiastically endorsed the Hoyt Fellow concept and suggested that Weimer School faculty may be a source of nominations. Interaction of Hoyt Fellows with the Weimer School will enhance the goal of educating the educator.

The Lola and Fred Case Library

The library of the Weimer School has been named in honor of Lola and Fred Case. Dr. Fred Case generously supported the library with a gift to the Hoyt Society. Other Fellows and friends of the Weimer School and Homer Hoyt Institute have donated books and journals. Also included in the collection are periodicals related to research on REIT valuation and risk analysis. The collection is being cataloged using the library of Congress system and resides on shelves that were custom-made for the purpose. The Weimer School library is expected to continue to expand through donations by Fellows. Dr. Case has indicated continued support.

Grants and Research

The grant program to a named consortium of universities has been put on the back burner since financial resources were curtailed. Some modest grant programs continue, mostly for faculty development. Plans call for resumption of a major grant program when funding permits. The expectation is that the commercialization of the Hoyt REIT model will provide such funding.

Historically, both the Institute and ASI have supported research on a number of areas, including office, residential, and retail markets; on specific topics designed to provide inputs into a complete market model; on the spatial aspect of real estate markets; and on decision strategies related to real estate. The Hoyt Group, which includes ASI, HHI, and Hoyt Advisory Services (HAS), the wholly owned subsidiary of HHI, has provided financial support to researchers and data centers for data collection activities such as cleaning data sets, maintaining a large database, and doing research to determine what data are required for real estate decision making.

The Weimer School continues to encourage research in these areas, facilitating industry contacts and generating ideas for relevant research.

Model

The past five years have seen the reemergence of the REIT as an investment medium that has promise in the equity securitization of the nation's investment real estate. The Hoyt Group has capitalized on this phenomenon by allocating a portion of its investment portfolio to equity REIT shares which, in turn, has enhanced investment returns. The Hoyt Group also has developed a proprietary model for the valuation of REIT shares and has actively pursued commercial applications of this model. Development and maintenance of the model now rests with HAS, as the profit-making subsidiary of the Hoyt Group. RIAS, a subsidiary of HAS, has been created to facilitate the commercial application.

HAS and RIAS will take the lead in commercializing the REIT model. Success in these ventures could ultimately augment the resources of the Institute, enabling expansion of the grant and contract research program by HHI/ASI.

HAS is intended to be a self-supporting unit by undertaking counseling work, by producing and managing investment opportunities on behalf of HHI, and, historically, carrying out the research and development function with the prospect of recovering some of the funding through the profitable applications of the emerging body of knowledge.

Other Information Dissemination

ASI is developing a book that provides the conceptual foundation for a REIT research program that will pursue the wide variety of topics involved in the analysis of a REIT as an investment and in the construction of a mixed-asset portfolio that would contain REITs as one of several types of investments. The ultimate marketing of the book in electronic form over the world-wide web is part of the plan in addition to hard cover publication.