NAIOP SoCal has named industry professionals Jason Krotts and Chris Tipre as honorary captains for the organization’s 5th Annual OC Real Estate Challenge, scheduled for April 15. The competition will again pit student teams from Chapman University and the University of California, Irvine against each other in a head-to-head real estate case study focused on a local redevelopment opportunity.
Krotts is co-founder and principal of Real Estate Development Associates, while Tipre serves as a principal with Trammell Crow Company. In this year’s event, Krotts will mentor and support the Chapman University team, and Tipre will fill the same honorary role for the UCI team. Their involvement is intended to connect students with active market participants as they refine and present their development concepts.
The Orange County Challenge features five-member student teams drawn from Chapman University’s George L. Argyros College of Business and Economics and the Alexander E. Hayden School of Real Estate, along with the UCI Paul Merage School of Business, Center for Real Estate. Each team is tasked with analyzing a specific site and presenting a proposal for its highest and best use in pursuit of the competition’s Orange Cup trophy.
The 2026 case study centers on an 8.3-acre redevelopment site at 1280 S. Anaheim Blvd. in Anaheim. According to the competition brief, the property consists of six vacant parcels that were previously occupied by a variety of automotive-related businesses. The land was acquired by Anaheim’s former Redevelopment Agency and identified in the city’s long-range property management plan as a strategic location for future market-rate development.
As part of the challenge, students will prepare and present a redevelopment proposal to the City of Anaheim that aims to revitalize the underutilized site. The case asks participants to consider how to reposition the former automotive properties into a project that aligns with the city’s objectives and broader market conditions. The presentations will be evaluated by a panel of judges, with the winning team taking home the Orange Cup.
Images released with the announcement feature the two honorary captains, with Krotts pictured at the top and Tipre below. NAIOP SoCal’s OC Real Estate Challenge continues to serve as a platform where local universities, municipal stakeholders and private-sector professionals converge around real-world land use and development questions in Orange County.
