ATLANTA—Allen Aldridge spent 16 years with Chicago-based CMD Realty Investors before he joined KBS Realty Advisors. Now, he serves as senior vice president of acquisitions, dispositions and asset management for the Atlanta-based firm.

Aldridge is responsible for the performance of KBS assets located in the southeast including North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. Based in Atlanta with offices in Washington DC, Aldridge oversees a current portfolio of office and industrial assets valued in excess of $500 million. GlobeSt.com caught up with Aldridge to get to know more about his commercial real estate journey in this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: How did you get your start in commercial real estate?

Aldridge: During the 1980s, I worked with a family residential real estate firm that grew into one of the largest brokerage and development companies in the Raleigh-Durham market.  On October 17, 1987, the stock market crashed, dropping a record 22% that day. 

We had multiple developments in progress with a large investment in infrastructure in the ground. The large national builders pulled out of the market and sales ceased.  Knowing it would be a sustained period before the markets recovered, we negotiated the sale of our brokerage sales, property management, insurance and commercial real estate divisions and raised enough cash to sustain the developments that were eventually completed over a four- to five-year period. 

During that process I developed a relationship with CMD Realty Investors, based in Chicago, who were starting a mixed use commercial development on the west side of the Research Triangle Park. I started with CMD in 1992 overseeing property management operations and doing their in-house leasing as well. It was a great opportunity for me to work with really talented people and learn all aspects of the business from the ground up—including management operations, leasing, and ground up development.

 GlobeSt.com: What have been some of the key turning points in your career?

Aldridge: The first turning point was the October 1987 stock market crash and my eventual shift to commercial real estate. And the second was in 2006, when CMD Realty Investors decided to liquidate the entire portfolio including the family core fund and our comingled investment funds. 

We restructured and started a new company, Wind Realty Partners, to execute the disposition of a $1 billion-plus national portfolio, which took place at the height of the market in 2007. This too was a great experience though it was the end of my 15-year affiliation with CMD.

Globest.com: What was the biggest challenge you've had to navigate in the commercial real estate industry?

Aldridge: Downturns in the market present the greatest challenges and the 2008 great recession was one of the largest. Plans and pro forma no longer mattered as demand turned negative, credit issues arose, decisions were delayed and no tenants would commit long term. Asset sales also plummeted leaving everyone for a short period to focus on making the real estate you owned work.

Stay tuned to an upcoming Atlanta edition to find out how Aldridge overcame that challenge and what his goals are moving forward.