Chicago-based Baum Realty Group LLC has hired Mike Demetriou as chief operating officer.
Demetriou was previously a senior real estate associate at both Sidley Austin and SNR Denton in Chicago, where he focused on the financing, acquisition, disposition, and leasing of commercial real estate throughout the country. Significant representations included KeyBank, JPMorgan Chase, Metro Storage and more recently, Royal Bank of Scotland, Starwood and Wells Fargo. His practice also included zoning and land use matters for businesses and universities as well as non-profit entities. On a pro-bono basis, Demetriou also represented the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and also served as general counsel to The Cara Foundation. Prior to his career as an attorney, Demetriou worked in executive compensation for Hughes, Lucent and managed business development for a closely held telecommunications consulting firm.
“COO is a new position for us and it speaks directly to our focus on growth in 2013,” said David Baum, founder and Baum Realty Group principal. “We’ve hired five new brokers over the past year, and anticipate adding more across each of our service lines as we execute our 2013 growth strategy. We’re also looking at new geographic markets for both tenant and landlord services, and we’re working to expand the scope and size of the investment sales transactions we engage in for both buyers and sellers. Mike will help us focus our resources on that growth.”
As more national retailers are seeking outsourced real estate solutions to drive their growth and reduce their operational costs, Demetriou will spend a significant amount of time supporting BRG’s National Real Estate Services division. The division serves national retailers and franchisors to help scale their operations faster and more efficiently than they otherwise would be able to if they hired their own real estate professionals internally.
Demetriou received a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a law degree, with honors, from Chicago-Kent College of Law. He serves on the Young Professionals Board of the Legal Assistance Foundation and the Lakeview Citizen’s Council and he is currently the vice president of the South East Lakeview Neighborhood Association. He and his wife, Katie, and their two children live in Lakeview.
