Rafael Carreira '94

Senior Vice President, The John Buck Company

Rafael Carreira received his MBA from the Kellogg School in 1994 and a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1989.

Rafael chose the Kellogg School to augment his architecture experience with a business education as part of a career change from architecture into real estate.

After an initial summer internship with The John Buck Company in Chicago, Rafael returned to The John Buck Company in 1994. Since 1994, his responsibilities have evolved in the development and finance of complex real estate developments. Rafael has played critical roles in the development of over $1 billion worth of real estate developments during his career. His roles in Development Management include managing and integrating site acquisition, financial analysis, entitlements, design, leasing, construction and project financing. Notable projects he has complete include the development of North Bridge, a nine-block development along Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue, which included several hotels, parking and a Nordstrom anchored retail development. In 2005, he also completed a development of 111 South Wacker Drive in Chicago, a 1 million rentable square foot, 50-story office development. This highly successful project has lead to further roles and the development of additional office buildings in Chicago slated for 2010.

Rafael is also actively assisting in the planning, design and construction of a number of not-for-profit inner city educational schools. These pro bono efforts have enabled him to give back some of the management and financial skills learned at Kellogg and throughout his career.

Prior to attending Kellogg, Rafael worked for the Chicago architectural firm of Solomon Cordwell Buenz working on a number of mixed-use opportunities including a large convention hotel, condominium and retail projects primarily in the Chicago area.