The brainchild of 2024 NorCal CCIM President Tony Rishell, The Legacy Project is envisioned as a perpetual collection of memorabilia related to organized commercial real estate, the CCIM Institute and its first local chapter, NorCal CCIM.

Since its formation in 1969, The CCIM Institute has been the undisputed authority on commercial investment real estate.  Its education component has been embraced by the industry around the world. Concepts such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV) and Cap Rate are part of the industry vocabulary thanks to CCIM instructors who, over the years, developed and refined the tools used to quantify analytical concepts that can be applied to commercial real estate investment.

But the CCIM vision has expanded beyond education to embrace networking, technology, marketing, ethical standards and political advocacy. Over 50 chapters around the world exercise these components on a local level lifting professionalism regionally and collectively.

Unfortunately, little has been recorded about The Institute’s historical role in shaping commercial real estate investment analysis as a reputable professional practice.  However, as the Institute and the Northern California Chapter celebrated their 50^th anniversaries, in 2019 and 2021, they highlighted several milestones, captured some photographs, and otherwise captured some perspective about the evolution of the industry.  Of particular interest is a collection of video interviews with the 50 past presidents of the Institute. For its part, NorCal CCIM produced a visual summary of event highlights and the volunteers behind them.

These items will be among the first to be added to a repository of CCIM history, insight and perspective called The Legacy Project.

This blog is a work-in-progress.  At this point, we don’t know where it will lead—perhaps a book, maybe a documentary video.  At the least, we will have collected, in one place, information that will be available to anyone interested, for years to come.

We welcome your participation. If you have an idea, an observation, a photo -–anything that would contribute to the project, please email it to NorCalCCIM@ccim.net, or submit a comment below.

In the meantime, watch this space!

The Legacy Project is being coordinated by Terry Shores and Tony Rishell.  Terry, who before retiring in 2023, was Executive Director of NorCalCCIM for 20 years.  He has been associated with the National Association of Realtors family of institutes and associations since 1982.  He previously was a reporter and newspaper editor.  Tony is a champion of legacy leadership practices and the development of organizational culture, which he puts to work in advising families with real estate legacies as well as with his coaching clients.