Nine prominent real estate industry insiders will explore the state of Chicago real estate during a July 11 breakfast program sponsored by the Real Estate Investment Association (REIA) and The Real Estate Center at DePaul University.

The program features a series of three panel discussions focusing on the housing, office/industrial and hotel/retail/entertainment segments of the industry. Panelists will provide a mid-year report on real estate activity in 2006 and forecast the outlook for the remainder of the year. The event begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m., followed by the speaking program from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., at Maggiano’s Little Italy, 111 W. Grand Ave., Chicago.

Jim Keledjian, principal of Pathway Senior Living, LLC, will moderate the housing panel, which will include Debra Cafaro, president of Ventas, Inc., a healthcare real estate investment trust, and Douglas Crocker, retired president and chief executive officer of Equity Residential Properties and principal of DC Partners.

The office/industrial panel discussion will be led by Susanne Cannon, the Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Director of The Real Estate Center. It will feature George Kohl, Midwest-area director for Trammell Crow Co., and John A. Garbossa, managing director and executive vice president at U.S. Equities Realty.

The final discussion of hotel/retail/entertainment real estate will be moderated by Neil Freeman, president of Aries Capital, Inc., with speakers Biff Hawkey, senior vice president, development, Hostmark Hospitality Group, and Stan Nitzberg, principal of Mid-America Real Estate.

The Real Estate Center’s practical, relevant public programs have proven to be very popular with the real estate community because of DePaul’s strong connections to the industry’s movers and shakers, observed Cannon, associate professor of finance at DePaul.

“All of the panelists and moderators participating in our forecast breakfast are involved in the Real Estate Center either as sponsors, or faculty members, or both,” she said. “These connections benefit both the students in our degree programs as well as the real estate professionals who attend our programs seeking insights into the hottest trends in real estate.”

The 2006 Mid-Year Update & Forecast Breakfast is $40 for REIA members and $55 for non-members who RSVP by July 7. Walk-ins will incur a $10 surcharge. For information and reservations, contact the REIA at (847) 676-0222 or visit its Web site: www.reia.org.

Launched in November of 2002, The Real Estate Center is the premier Midwest source for education, research and professional development programs tailored to the needs of professionals in the Midwest real estate industry and affiliated fields. It oversees DePaul’s well-established and accredited degree programs, including bachelor’s, master’s and MBA degrees in real estate, and continuing professional education offerings. The center is supported by more than 40 distinguished real estate executives and institutional founding sponsors, including the REIA.

REIA’s mission is to be the premier networking organization for real estate professionals. It provides a forum for the exchange of relevant and timely investment ideas and knowledge and fosters the creation of capital formation in all areas of real estate investment.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Journalists interested in covering the forecast breakfast should contact Robin Florzak, DePaul Media Relations, at 312/362-8592 or rflorzak@depaul.edu.