YPG Team Chosen as CapRock Cup Winners

IRVINE, CA—A team of young professionals has been awarded the grand-prize trophy in NAIOP SoCal Young Professionals Group's annual case competition to determine the highest and best use for an active commercial real estate site. The CapRock Cup was awarded by a panel of five industry leaders who scored the teams on their presentations.

Each year, the YPG holds a case competition for its current 35-member class of real estate professionals. This year, the five teams each presented their strategic plan and proposal on the highest and best use for an active commercial real estate site located in Commerce, CA, owned by Prologis Inc. CapRock Partners LLC, a private commercial real estate investment firm based in Orange County, became the first multi-year sponsor for the 2014-2015 YPG's final project case competition, establishing the CapRock Cup as its grand-prize trophy.

The winning YPG team included Steven Hillgren, Wells Fargo; Jason DiRocco, Voit Real Estate Services; Brent Ozenbaugh, Vantage Property Investors; Brett Tanimoto, the Muller Co.; Keith Greer, CBRE; Brad Johnson, LBA Realty; and McCay Major, John Hancock Financial Services. GlobeSt.com was unable to reach the parties involved before deadline to determine the details of the winning entry, but stay tuned for an update on this story with more details.

The competition, sponsored by Prologis and CapRock, is a culmination of the YPG class's 12-month, 70-hour course designed to educate, develop, connect and elevate the commercial real estate industry's emerging leaders. According to Kim Snyder, president, US Southwest region, for Prologis, “The YPG teams each offered unique and innovative solutions to a complex redevelopment property in Commerce. The property has been a food court and a community amenity for 20 years, and each team provided their own recommendation for value optimization strategies that are all worthy of consideration. As the property owner, we were impressed with their creativity.”

Jon Pharris, CapRock Partners' co-founder and director of acquisitions, served as one of the five judges on the project's panel. According to Jerry Pharris, co-founder and CEO of CapRock, “CapRock Partners has a rich history with NAIOP's SoCal's Young Professionals Group, and many of the accomplished commercial real estate professionals in our firm are alumni of the program—including Jon Pharris, Jake Loughridge and Taylor Arnett. We are thrilled to be a multi-year sponsor of the YPG's final project case competition, as we are committed to supporting the growth of the brightest young minds in the industry today.

The YPG group is involved in a variety of competitive activities throughout the year. As GlobeSt.com reported in August 2014, the group held its second annual Y Games at Newport Dunes in Newport Beach, CA. The winning team was a group of USC alumni led by captain Tom Sherlock, a principal with Talonvest Capital.