In 1993, Fred Petri co-founded Housing Capital Company in San Mateo, California, with former Wells Fargo Bank colleague, Dave Petrone. Fred and Dave both had long, distinguished careers in real estate lending starting at Union Bank and then on to Wells Fargo. Fred succeeded Dave as President of the Wells Fargo Realty Advisors, a real estate investment trust formed in the 1980’s. Housing Capital Company was a partnership with U.S. Bank whose lending niche was to lend to private residential builders throughout California and the West. Fred served as trustee of the Urban Land Institute, was a former member of the board of governors and vice president of the National Association of Real Estate Trusts and was a former board member and officer of the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries.
Fred has been a lifelong dedicated supporter of WSB’s real estate program and the James A. Graaskamp Center since its inception. He helped create and fund the real estate program’s Applied Real Estate Investment Trust (AREIT) training program, a distinguishing feature of the program and one that proved so successful it was expanded to include undergraduate students in 2009. He was a founding and lifelong member of the Graaskamp Center Advisory Board and also served on the UW Real Estate Alumni Association Board and the Dean’s Advisory Board.
Fred earned his BBA and MBA from the Wisconsin School of Business and during his school years was a member of the Wisconsin National Guard.