For more than 20 years, the College of Business and the FSU Real Estate Center have presented the FSU Real Estate Network Award annually to one individual in recognition of their enduring and significant contributions to the real estate program at Florida State University. For 2019, the recipient is Shawn McIntyre, managing partner of North American Properties (NAP).

McIntyre serves as a director on the FSU Real Estate Center Executive Board and is recognized as a Program Partner. For the past six years, he has also has supported the FSU Real Estate TRENDS Conference annually as a Garnet Sponsor.

He believes in changing the world one community at a time. Whether he is facilitating medical treatment overseas, building homes with Habitat for Humanity or developing innovative communities for North American Properties, he always prioritizes character and doing the right thing. 

McIntyre and NAP’s goal is to develop multifamily, mixed-use, office, student housing, hotel or retail environments, that deliver valuable, meaningful real estate that transforms, inspires, delights and succeeds by connecting us all with what matters most – “Developing a Better World,” an NAP tagline.

In 2016, McIntyre committed to a transformative gift establishing the North American Properties Fund for Excellence in Education, in turn creating the course Urban Planning and Real Estate Development, jointly offered by the College of Business and the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. The course gives students in Florida State’s highly ranked real estate and planning programs an “insider’s” view of the development process. 

The course provides students with an understanding of the complexities of the development process, helps them appreciate the public and private sectors’ perspectives, and identifies and differentiates the key metrics considered by public officials, community representatives and the investment/development community. The course also engages key decision makers – federal, state and local officials; business development professionals; investors; lenders; land owners; designers; construction companies; and environmentalists, among them – as guest speakers, panelists, project coaches and case competition judges.

By involving key decision makers, the instructors are able to give students a better understanding of how the two disciplines must work together to forge development outcomes that are profitable, sustainable, and positively impact the community – it could be seen as changing the world one class at a time.

"If we can equip these young adults with the ability to collaborate with their industry counterparts, they will become exponentially more valuable to regulatory agencies, planning departments, commercial lending companies, architectural firms and companies like ours.” McIntyre said.