Reaching Beyond Our Borders

IREM's international contingent had a strong showing, with more than 40 joining fellow members from Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, and South Africa. (Which means there was a dramatic increase in the amount of talk about soccer and rugby at this conference.) The org has a network of 13 international chapters, including from the countries above and Poland and Russia. Now members from 38 countries make up 8% of IREM's membership. One Brazilian member, ASPA's Leonardo Schneider (second row, purple tie), tells us his firm is working with a developer on a big project called Bella Vista in Salvador, Brazil. It's helping plan all the amenities, which include a gym, beauty salon, and more. Overall, the project totals 22 towers with 100 condo units each, three towers for commercial tenants, and one large shopping center. When the project's completed, it will have 10,000 residents at full occupancy.

Here's Beth Machen and Shanghai Urban Development general manager Ying Chen from a recent trip to China. He's part of IREM's China Shanghai chapter, which was formed in April 2011 and had the greatest percentage of growth in 2012 out of all of IREM's 93 domestic and international chapters. Not only that, his firm--which provides real estate development, property sales, and leasing and management services--was just given IREM's first Accredited Management Organization (AMO) credential outside of North America, presented to firms that demonstate high standards of professionalism, financial performance, and ethics.