The New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers is working with the Ukrainian Trade Guild to establish the ICSC School of Real Estate in Kyiv
Spurred by Ukraine’s booming market in commercial trade space and the rising demand for well trained, locally produced
professionals, two organizations are teaming up to found the country’s first retail management school this November.
The New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), a global trade association of the shopping center industry, is working with the Ukrainian Trade Guild (UTG), a leading Kyiv-based consultancy specializing in real estate development projects, to establish its ICSC School of Real Estate in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s market for shopping center development is currently the most robust sector of its real estate industry, while the country is lacking in the number of professionals specifically trained in this sector. The school’s aim is therefore to increase the number of professionals knowledgeable in this specific sector, which offers its players millions of dollars annually.
ICSC’s school, which will introduce participants to all aspects of the shopping center industry, is based on the training program of the John T. Riordan International School for Professional Development, a US-based educational institution that offers training courses in various fields in real estate, including management, marketing, leasing and retailing. ICSC already offers its program in several other countries worldwide, including the US, Europe, and China.
The school’s training program will be conducted on semi-regular basis and consists of two week-long stages, the first of which will run from Nov. 5 to 9 of this year at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kyiv. This stage will encompass an introductory course touching on trends in the global real estate market, including new developments in marketing, merchandising, PR, and the foundations of leasing principles.
The school will employ foreign instructors and all the lectures will be conducted in English, with simultaneous translation in Russian. At the end of the first stage, students will receive a certificate. The second stage will be conducted in about six months after the first. After the second stage, participants can pass ICSC’s exam and receive their internationally recognized Certificate of Completion.
Each stage in the program will cost $1,495 for participants whose companies are not members of ICSC and $1,345 for ICSC members.
Natalia Mechenkova, a spokesperson for UTG, said each program session will train up to 60 participants at a time.
“The program is open to anybody,” Mechenkova emphasized, adding that the selection process would depend on how fast potential candidates complete the necessary forms and pay for the program.
Anna Patsyuk, director of Roznitsa-UA, a retail consultancy, said that “sooner or later such training will definitely be needed…While there are retail chains in the country and their number is growing, such training will be in demand.”
