The Alfred A. Ring Distinguished Speaker Series brings real estate leaders to campus.

Dirk Aulabaugh spoke Oct. 3 about lessons he has learned during his career at Green Street Advisors, where he is executive vice president and global head of advisory services. Aulabaugh and his Green Street colleagues advise publicly traded and private real estate investment trusts (REITs), such as Blackstone. Aulabaugh also shared about the significance of public markets in the real estate industry. He outlined the appeal of sectors like health care, student housing, cold storage and single-family home rentals. He noted political risks affect sectors, such as the potential for rental controls that are clouding the valuation of single-family rental companies. But even troubled sectors such as shopping malls and offices have some bright spots. He cited the performance of firms with high-value assets like Boston Properties and Simon Property Group. He argued Green Street’s valuation approach, which relies on total and relative returns, makes its indices more accurate than appraisal-based ones. “The public market tends to lead what’s happening in the private side,” often predicting private market valuations, he said. A graduate of the University of Florida (BSBA ‘91, MARE ‘93), Aulabaugh concluded by emphasizing the importance of building a passionate team whose members are intellectually curious. “You have to be able to think,” he said.