The Florida State University Real Estate Foundation held its first board of directors meeting on Thursday, July 7, 2011, in Tallahassee. The newly established Real Estate Foundation exists primarily to receive contributions of real estate to hold, manage, lease, mortgage, develop, administer or sell in order to contribute or distribute all or a portion of the net proceeds from such activity to The Florida State University and The Florida State University Foundation.
With its creation in advance of the university’s upcoming capital campaign, the Real Estate Foundation will provide growth opportunities for the university to invest and develop potential property under the guidance of a board of directors with backgrounds in professional real estate development, accounting and management.
The Real Estate Foundation board is comprised of seven directors from across the state of Florida: Chair Beth A. Azor, Davie, Fla.; vice chair Brian K. Swain, Winter Haven, Fla.; Bob Breslau, Davie, Fla.; Ed Burr, Jacksonville Beach, Fla.; Leslie A. McKeon, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Steve Pattison, Plantation, Fla.; and Tom Jennings, Florida State University vice president for University Advancement and president, FSU Foundation.
“The Real Estate Foundation has the potential to help grow our university through alumni and friends’ gifts of real estate and to assist the university in that growth by utilizing real estate principles at the right time and place,” Azor said. “The Real Estate Foundation will counterbalance the negative impact of the current economic climate and assist in accomplishing fundraising goals that Florida State has wanted to achieve for many years.”
The Florida State University Real Estate Foundation is registered as a separate corporation in the state of Florida that has been approved as a direct support organization of the university. The corporation is currently awaiting approval of its application for tax exempt, charitable status from the IRS.
The Real Estate Foundation Board of Directors held an inaugural meeting on July 7 in Tallahassee. Board members from left to right are Tom Jennings, Ed Burr, Beth Azor, Brian Swain, Steve Pattison, and Leslie McKeon. Not pictured: Bob Breslau.