Neiman Joins Northstar Commercial Partners

Neiman says he "worked himself out of a job," by selling real estate at Inverness, a large office park along the southeast corridor, faster than expected. Indeed, Neiman says he had expected to spend the rest of his career at Inverness, where he worked closely with a long-time friend, John O'Meara, president of Inverness.

"We had been looking for quite a while to fill this position with the right person," Watson tells GlobeSt.com. "Brad brings a lot of expertise to the table. He also has a lot of connections within the brokerage community, and he knows different ownership groups across the country."

Watson first began to talk to Neiman almost a year ago, but at that time he wasn't ready to leave Inverness. "Our original discussions were more on who might be a good candidate for the position, and not about me," Neiman tells GlobeSt.com.

Earlier in the year, Inverness Properties, in a joint venture with Opus Northwest, spent $26 million to buy a large portfolio of land and buildings in the Inverness Business Park. Neiman helped to dispose of buildings didn't want, so it could concentrate in developing the land it acquired over time.

"It became fairly obvious is that if Brad wanted to focus on his specialization, which is buying and selling investment-quality real estate, Inverness was not the best place for him to be," says O'Meara. "But Brad and I are still good friends. And I told him he had the job at Inverness as long as he wanted it."

Neiman says he didn't consider any other option but joining Northstar. "The opportunity at Northstar seemed a perfect fit for my background and experience," says Neiman, who has been involved in more than $1 billion in deals during his career. "It will be exciting to help this young company grow," he continues. "One of the great things about this company is it can be very nimble and react to opportunities quickly."

Neiman has worked as a developer, ran the Iliff Thorn office for well-known Denver developer George Thorn, was a CB Richard Ellis broker for 10 years, and headed acquisitions for Mile High Properties, also headed by Thorn, during his career.

Neiman and Watson both will invest in office, industrial and retail buildings that they acquire. Neiman says the company really is more of a commercial real estate bank than just an investment company, because individuals in the company invest their money along with their clients. That aligns their interest with their investors, notes Watson.

One of Northstar's specialty is buying excess real estate from large companies. For example, it bought five properties across the country from the Benjamin Moore paint company, which is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and over the next 18 months disposed of the properties.

"The averge return on the buildings we buy has been in the 20%-plus range, although we've had some returns that are in the stratosphere," Watson tells GlobeSt.com.