vice president, Grubb & Ellis|Apex Commercial
Title: Vice president
Company: Grubb & Ellis|Apex Commercial
Education: University of North Texas
Family: Wife Kathy and two sons, Zach and Sam.
City of Residence: Whitefish Bay
What are you working on? "Generally, representing several individual owners in the sale of industrial properties. A couple of specific marketing assignments, 44,000 square feet space available for lease from CenterPoint Properties on West Green Tree Road, sale of the 407,000-square-foot Briggs & Stratton plant in Port Washington, and the sale of a 41,000-square-foot warehouse for Smurfit-Stone on 35th Street."
How does the market look to you? "Tenant market is soft and the owner-occupant market is still active."
What was the best deal you’ve ever been involved in? "The best and maybe one of the most important projects that I have been a contributor to is the 30th Street Industrial Corridor (ICC). This redevelopment project will have the same impact on the City of Milwaukee as the Menomonee Valley redevelopment project. Currently, we are now seeing new real estate investment in the area, and it has been great to be involved with the real estate owners and government leaders that are shaping the future for this area."
What was the funniest moment of your career? "In preparation of the NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) Market Update this year, I was in the process of verifying and accumulating the industrial real estate market data for the presentation. I was speaking with a fellow member of the real estate community and they said, ‘I have one piece of advice for your presentation.’ Being new to the process and wanting to make sure I absorbed every valuable piece of information available, I perked up and grabbed my pen to be ready to write down this important piece of information. Also, I did not want to miss any of the inspiration that was about to be shared with me. The advice short and sweet: ‘Don’t mess up.’ This is probably good advice for most situations. It is important to keep it all in prospective and laugh every day, sometimes to keep from crying."
