It was One Day
The 2026 Commercial Real Estate Summit is in the books. More than 300 participants. Nearly 40 speakers. More than 60 UCO Real Estate students. Two keynotes, breakfast and lunch, more than 10 individual sessions, the Oklahoma Real Estate Hall of Fame, and five PIVOT Awards.
It was quite a day. Ryan McNeill shared the story and vision behind The Oak. The Anatomy of Real Estate Development brought together the many professionals required to take a project from an idea to reality. Throughout the day, sessions explored development, brokerage, finance, property management, transit, appraisal and the issues shaping Oklahoma real estate today and tomorrow.
There was a lot to learn. But as I looked around the room, I was reminded that the Commercial Real Estate Summit has never really been about the sessions. More than a decade ago, Andrea Frymire, Bart Binning and I had an idea. We wanted to create a place where Oklahoma's commercial real estate industry could come together - to learn from one another, build relationships and occasionally stop long enough to think about the communities we are creating.
What that idea has become is humbling. I am incredibly thankful for the sponsors who financially support the Summit, the board members who give their time and talents, the industry professionals who willingly share their knowledge, and the University of Central Oklahoma for believing in the value of connecting education with industry.
But perhaps my favorite part was watching more than 60 UCO Real Estate students experience it all. They weren't reading about commercial real estate in a textbook. They were sitting beside developers, brokers, lenders, attorneys, architects, builders and community leaders. They were shaking hands, exchanging ideas and beginning relationships with people they may work alongside for the next 40 years.
That's education. And maybe that's the real purpose of the Summit. For one day, more than 300 people stepped away from their deals, deadlines, offices and job sites. We learned. We networked. We celebrated some remarkable people. And perhaps most importantly, we took a moment to contemplate what our industry and our communities are - and what they could become.
Buildings age. Deals close. Markets change. But the investment we make in people - and especially in the next generation - can last a lifetime. After eleven years, I think that's a pretty good return on investment.
Dr. J. David Chapman is the Chair of Finance and Professor of Real Estate at The University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu)