Commercial Investment Real Estate November/December 2017 | Page 81

“When we were finished there, the elite in business and construction and economy knew what a CCIM was, knew that Americans and Canadians were nice people who were willing to share information and who were interested in us all speaking the same language of the commercial real estate business.” Hudson adds that the experience was especially helpful when he went back to start a small brokerage in Moscow two years later. “In early days when I was a broker, there were very few Soviet laws that had to do with real estate marketing,” he says. “Think about it — you had people from all over the world all coming there both as commercial real estate people and as corporate users looking for office space and apartments. It was like the United Nations. So we not only had to do commercial real estate, but also basically create a body of law and advise Russians how to be commercial real estate professionals in all areas of the industry. “Today if you’re doing office leasing or developments in Rus- sia, things like analysis, internal rate of return, and NOI — all those things are exactly the same as in the West because of those early classes, and the way they were adopted as the standard.” He also notes the dramatic change from the real estate envi- ronment that the instructors encountered in 1991 Moscow. The Kentucky CCIM Chapter Congratulates CCIM Institute on 50 YEARS Learn more about our chapter at: www.kyccim.org COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE / NOV.17 “Imagine going in just 20 years from that almost nothing to an industry like ours with leasing agents, architects, bankers, mortgage brokers, and designers, and a lot more CCIMs,” Hudson says. “I went back to teach a few times in 2005 and 2006, and even then the country was full of some of the brightest young people you ever wanted to meet, who were bilingual, smart, and wonderful — so much optimism was there 10 years ago. Hopefully, it will return.” And Shindleman adds, “I do think it shaped CCIM as an Institute. We could be out there, and we could be advanced. There was demand for education, and the experience that we could share with people. That’s what opens up diplomatic channels at the end of the day. There was no talk of politics, and it didn’t matter. It was commercial real estate. “Today, CCIM is even more capable of being there and everywhere else on earth. Our cadre has developed the skills to be incredible goodwill ambassadors for the Institute, as well as the U.S. and Canada. It adds prestige to the pin for those who have it and those who are seeking it. I’m grateful to have been involved.” Sarah Hoban is a freelance writer based in the Chicago metro area. The Kansas CCIM Chapter Congratulates CCIM Institute on its GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY Learn more about our chapter at: www.ksccim.com 27 CCIM.COM