Strongsville Native Wins College Real Estate Competition

STRONGSVILLE, OH — A Strongsville native was part of John Carroll University's DDR Real Estate Case Competition winning team. DDR has held the competition five times and John Carroll has won the contest twice.

Joshua Dzurko went to St. Ignatius High School but hails from Strongsville. He helped lead a team from John Carroll's Boler School of Business to a victory over other groups from Colgate University, The Ohio State University and Case Western Reserve University.

Dzurko's team had to choose from one of three cases in the competition: the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Strategies, Future of Retail and Shopping Center Redevelopment. The John Carroll University squad selected the Redevelopment Case.

The students had to display deep knowledge of the case, extensive research, creativity and an ability to think on their feet and respond to judge's questions. Senior managers at DDR served as judges for the competition.

The competition was held Nov. 9 at DDR's headquarters in Beachwood.

The John Carroll students received $5,000 and an interview with DDR for winning the competition.

Photo from John Carroll University

Photo caption: John Carroll University's Boler School of Business winning team at the 2017 "DDR Real Estate Case Competition" (L-R): Steven Schmitz, Josh Dzurko, and Timothy Platko