GRUBER COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder / Professional Background

When Jim Gruber started Gruber Commercial Real Estate Services in 2004, he had already received a lifetime achievement award and had a CBRE conference room named after him. While CBRE, his employer for the prior 28 years, seemed to be signaling the wrap-up of his career, Jim was ready to launch a new venture. With his co-founder Karen in tow, he says, "We left on Friday and opened Gruber Commercial on Monday. We didn't lose a single customer. We hit the ground running and have kicked ass ever since." Jim ended his tenure at CBRE as a Senior Vice President, the highest recognition given to any CBRE salesperson. He was honored among the company's top ten salespeople for several years running, and was their top industrial salesperson through much of the ‘90s. While at CBRE, he represented clients like the Ford Motor Company, Cargill, and Northwestern Mutual Life. Jim was recognized as a Denver metro industry leader for larger industrial properties.

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder / Professional Background

While Karen's route to becoming the co-founder of an industrial real estate business was less deliberate, it was still based on a foundation of relationships. Most of her career choices have been the direct result of Karen's willingness to support the personal and professional endeavors of people she cares about. Karen moved to Denver at the age of 21 from Madison, Wisconsin. Her parents had invested in a local kids' play center franchise called "Discovery Zone," and they wanted her to manage it. While she had no idea what she was getting into in moving to Colorado, she feels incredibly lucky. "I was going where the wind took me," she says. Ultimately, the wind took her into real estate. She first worked for Denver's largest multifamily apartment housing developers, Kalvess and Carmel Partners. She was later hired by CBRE to be Jim's marketing assistant. Jim explains, "She was my sales associate. The best we ever had at the company." Without Karen, Jim wouldn't have made the decision to leave CBRE and start his own business. In Jim's retelling, Karen's involvement is a crucial part of the rainmaking magic. "I hook ‘em, she lands ‘em," he says. "Whenever I introduced her to a client, it was done. They just loved her. She's cuddly. She cares. She's also got a great brain and is a tremendous mathematician." Indeed, for the next 15 years, Karen was crucial to the success of the business. She served as Gruber Commercial's sales manager, marketing manager, accountant, and legal assistant all rolled into one.

Job Titles:

• Owner, Broker, and Industrial Specialist / Professional Background

It's the people who keep Russell motivated. "My customers are the most amazing people," he says. He's at home among the down-to-earth, hard-working, successful people who make up Colorado's industrial community. They're his friends, mentors, colleagues, and the reason he loves going to work every day. Since 2007, Russell has been 100% dedicated to serving industrial clients' real estate needs in Colorado. Much more than a broker, Russell serves as a trusted advisor to his customers. He has personally completed more than $300M in transactions over the course of his career. Within the commercial real estate industry, Russell has quickly become known as a leading broker who has what it takes to close deals of all sizes. Recent sample deals include $10M for a future development and repurpose opportunity adjoining the National Western Stock Show, $7.3M for a fully leased triple net investment sale, $5M for future RiNo expansion development land, and $4.4M for a scrap metal plant expansion. Though Russell works with clients in and outside of Colorado, he's strongly focused on RiNo, Elyria-Swansea, and Globeville central market industrial product. His deep understanding of Denver's central industrial market is integral to his success. He has strong relationships throughout the community: He knows who to call, where to look, and how to connect the right people. He's been known to source properties that aren't even on the market yet. Russell began his real estate career with Gruber Commercial in 2007. Despite a strong start, he wanted to prove he had what it took to succeed in real estate, without riding on his dad's coattails. Between 2011 and early 2018, Russell worked with top firms Grubb & Ellis and Newmark Knight Frank. At Newmark Knight Frank, Russell ranked in the top ten industrial brokers for Colorado. In 2018, to his family's delight, Russell returned to Gruber Commercial. Russell is the first to admit his career and education haven't followed a standard trajectory. He grew up skateboarding around the Denver warehouses of his dad's clients. A self-described "hard-headed kid," he completed high school at St. John's Military School in Salina, KS. After a few years of messing around and trying his dad's patience, Russell spent several years in the Coast Guard. Upon his return, he took classes at Metro State College of Denver. When Russell and Jim realized Russell is a lifetime Coloradoan. He grew up in Greenwood Village, and he, his wife Michelle, and his two boys, four-year-old Kingsley and one-year-old Wesley, now live a driver's shot away from the home where he grew up. (He says, "But I'm not a golfer, so I probably couldn't do it.") Russell is proud to call out that, aside from his career, he's in full-on dad mode. Russell is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and an avid snowboarder. He still skateboards, but only with Kingsley. He and Kingsley keep up a regular wrestling regimen, each taking the role of a different Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. (Kingsley is always Michelangelo.

Job Titles:

• Industrial Specialist / Professional Background

For Steve, industrial real estate is in his blood. His father, Bob Fletcher, was a pioneer in developing industrial warehouses in Denver in the 1970's and introduced Steve to the business at a young age. "I remember going with my Dad to sweep the steps at his warehouses in the winter when I was in elementary school, so I always knew what a dock door was" After graduating from the University of Denver in 2004, Steve jumped head first into the business as an industrial broker at Grubb & Ellis company, where he was named Rookie of the Year. After a successful 7 years at Grubb, the company was acquired by Newmark, a national brokerage firm based out of New York. After almost 10 years at Newmark, and ready for a change of pace from the corporate world, Steve had the exciting opportunity to join his longtime friend and former colleague Russell at Gruber Commercial. Like Russell, Steve has always felt most comfortable among the down to earth, hard working and successful people that make up Colorado's industrial community, so Gruber Commercial was a natural fit. Like Russell, he is not just a broker, but owner of industrial property as well. Being an owner is a huge advantage when it comes to advising clients, because as owners Russell and Steve have stood in their client's shoes. "We have had to write the same checks and make the same tough calls as you" Steve is fond of saying to potential clients. Outside of real estate, Steve keeps busy helping his wife Vy chase after their four kids: Herny, Remy, Zarah and Phoebe. If he's not at home or at the office, as an avid Jiu Jitsu competitor at the Brown Belt level, you can probably find him on the mat, on a skateboard or up hunting in the hills.

Though Jim is still active in some parts of Gruber's business, he's no longer making outgoing calls. These days, he's primarily focused on maintaining his own real estate investments and taking care of his tenants. He also consults on real estate transactions for friends and past colleagues.