2022 Real Estate Challenge winner Omar Alenezi and the future of Oxford Circus, London

In 2021 IE School of Architecture and Design introduced the Real Estate Challenge, an exciting new competition based on the relationship between real estate and city-making.

The 2022 challenge was dedicated to revitalizing one of the most important shopping areas in the world, London’s Oxford Circus.

In February 2022, Ingka Investments —purchased a building on Oxford Circus formerly owned by Topshop. In the Real Estate Challenge, participants from around the world contributed ideas regarding a development project for this area of the City, Westminster, in London and for Ingka Group’s usage of their newly acquired Oxford Circus property that can balance questions of sustainability, consumer behavior and technology.

The top submissions were evaluated by a jury consisting of Lola Ripollés Aguilar, UK Construction Project Manager at Ingka Group (IKEA Retail); Linda Córdoba, Global Expansion M.A and strategic partnership leader at Ingka Group (IKEA Retail); and Margarita Chiclana, director of the Global Master in Real Estate Development at IE School of Architecture and Design. The top three applicants were awarded a scholarship to complete IE University’s Global Master in Real Estate Development.

The first-prize winner of this year’s competition is Omar Alenezi, a project manager at Total Management Consultancy (Kuwait) with over 18 years of experience in real estate as well as project and business development. Omar holds a Master of Business Administration from Kuwait Maastricht Business School and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kuwait.

Omar’s vision

Given the aim of this year’s Real Estate Challenge to explore the new role of retail within urban spaces, Omar’s vision for Oxford Circus location was based on using this space to build a more innovative, sustainable future community. His proposal was informed by a number of factors impacting the retail industry, particularly the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior. For his recommendations, he considered the relationship between real estate, investment, technology and retail, as well as the future of the real estate market as impacted by these concepts.

Omar was especially concerned with the sustainability of his proposal, and he identified a reduction in carbon emissions—particularly during construction—as a key component. He also incorporated actions for the Ingka Group’s building to achieve net-zero emissions and a more sustainable, inclusive and vibrant community overall, including through collaborations with other private sector entities and the government.

The Award

In addition to winning the top prize of a 40% reduction in tuition fees for the Global Master in Real Estate Development, Omar was also invited to share his experience and proposal with the Global Expansion Manager Jette Jorgensen of Ingka Group (IKEA Retail) and the Expansion Managers in 32 countries in Europe, Asia, Oceania and North America, in collaboration with Linda Cordoba from Ingka Group (IKEA Retail) and Margarita Chiclana (CEO at UNEXUM Real Estate and Director of the Global Master in Real Estate Development).

Omar was excited about the opportunity to share his proposal directly with the change-makers of this booming multinational conglomerate. Although these expansion managers represent all different corners of the map and each is working to address the needs of different markets, Omar noted that the acceptance of his proposal is proof that the world speaks one language when it comes to data, knowledge and innovation applied to urban regeneration.

As a student in Madrid, Omar describes his experience at IE University thus far as challenging but amazing. He is taking full advantage of the resources of the Global Master in Real Estate Development program, making the most of his time to maximize both professional and personal growth.

Omar credits the Real Estate Challenge as an opportunity to engage with a world-leading company dedicated to innovation, sustainability and building a better future. By participating in the competition, applicants can tackle international challenges posed by real-world business cases. While the topic of next year’s challenge is still undecided, both Margarita Chiclana, program director and Omar encourage as many potential students as possible to dive into the challenge and start thinking about how to build the cities of tomorrow.