NAIOP SoCal Names Honorary Captains for OC Real Estate Challenge

NAIOP SoCal announced the honorary captains for its 5th Annual OC Real Estate Challenge to be held April 15. This year’s industry leaders are Jason Krotts, co-founder & principal, Real Estate Development Associates, along with Chris Tipre, principal, Trammell Crow Company. Krotts and Tipre will serve as honorary captains for the Chapman University and University of California, Irvine (UCI) teams, respectively.

The annual Orange County Challenge brings together five-member student teams from the Chapman University George L. Argyros College of Business and Economics, Alexander E. Hayden School of Real Estate and the UCI Paul Merage School of Business, Center for Real Estate to compete head-to-head. Each team will present its vision for the highest and best use for this year’s challenge site in pursuit of the Orange Cup.

For 2026, the two university teams will compete on an 8.3-acre redevelopment opportunity located at 1280 S. Anaheim Blvd. in Anaheim. It comprises six separate vacant parcels formerly used for various automotive-related services. The site 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. The students will present a proposal to the City of Anaheim to revitalize the site.

Pictured, at top: Jason Krotts. Below: Chris Tipre.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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