College of Business alumnus and real estate entrepreneur Benjamin S. Macfarland III knows the value of a war room, and that’s why he has made his second significant gift to Florida State University – this one for $200,000.

Macfarland’s latest gift will establish the Benjamin Shibe Macfarland III Real Estate Research Lab – or so-called War Room – in Legacy Hall, the College of Business’ showcase facility and future home. This follows a $100,000 gift in 2019 to establish Legacy Hall’s Benjamin Shibe MacFarland III Team Analytical Collaboration Lab.

As CEO of SROA Capital, a private equity real estate and technology company, Macfarland makes steady use of a similar room at his West Palm Beach headquarters where he and his partners and employees truly get down to business.

“Before I make investments,” Macfarland said, “I’ll take the investment team inside a ‘war room’ sort of thing, and we’ll go through everything.”

Michael Hartline, dean of the College of Business, lauded Macfarland’s gifts as considerable boons for the College of Business and Legacy Hall, an $88 million facility that aims to further elevate the college’s rising stature. The college has kept its place among the top business schools in the country with a No. 1 ranking among all schools for its Dr. William T. Hold/The National Alliance Program in Risk Management and Insurance and a No. 5 ranking among public schools for its Real Estate program, the latter of which helped launch Macfarland’s lucrative career in real estate investment.

“Ben Macfarland has stepped up with another gift that will cement his legacy as a thriving FSU-educated real estate founder, executive and investor and a generous friend of the College of Business,” Hartline said. “We thank and salute him for the effect he’ll surely have on so many real estate and business professionals and leaders of tomorrow.”