Each year, Midwest Real Estate News inducts a new class into its Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. Here is a look at the busy career of one of our newest members, Bennett Ginsberg, managing director with the Omaha, Nebraska, office of CBRE.
Experience matters. So does knowledge and hard work. And an innate ability to close deals and meet the needs of clients? That, too, is critical for success in commercial real estate.
Fortunately, Bennett Ginsberg, managing director with the Omaha office of CBRE, possesses all those traits. It’s why he’s long been considered a go-to expert in Omaha’s commercial real estate market.
Ginsberg has worked in commercial real estate for more than 35 years. His peers say that this industry veteran holds a deep knowledge of the industry, is enthusiastic about serving his clients and community and quickly garners the trust and respect of both his industry peers and clients.
These traits are why the biggest and most respected companies have long trusted Ginsberg with their real estate decisions.
Throughout his long career, Ginsberg has focused on integrity: He does what he says he is going to do. And he never forgets the needs of his clients when closing deals.
“A high degree of integrity is absolutely necessary in business and life,” Ginsberg said. “A quote that I like using is that ‘business moves at the speed of trust.'”
This doesn’t mean that Ginsberg hasn’t faced challenges. He has. But he’s also worked hard to overcome them.
He says that the biggest challenge he faced during his career was the 2008 financial crisis. But even though those were difficult times, Ginsberg and his team persevered thanks to hard work, honesty and dedication to their clients.
“I’m proud to say we never let one person go during that couple of years of a very difficult business climate,” he said.
What Ginsberg describes as a positive challenge occurred in 2000. That’s when he played a key role in and oversaw a strategic alliance with CBRE, Inc. This aligned CBRE|MEGA with one of the largest and most respected full-service commercial real estate companies in the world.
After a long history of partnership between CBRE|MEGA and CBRE, CBRE agreed to purchase CBRE|MEGA in July of 2019. Today, CBRE is the only corporate commercial real estate company in the Omaha area.
Ginsberg continues to guide CBRE with his proven leadership style. Under his watch, CBRE has been involved with some of Omaha’s most distinguished projects, including the TD Ameritrade World Headquarters, Gavilon Trading headquarters in downtown Omaha and the 500-acre Heartwood Preserve development in western Omaha.
When not working, Ginsberg enjoys golfing with his close friends and taking great gold trips with them and trying to stay healthy and active by working out and riding the Peloton bike. He also enjoys cooking, especially smoking a wide variety of meats on his smoker, always trying to master the art of making the perfect brisket.
But as with most successful commercial real estate professionals, work is also a passion of Ginsberg’s.
“I enjoy working on complex deals,” he said. “Each one is so unique. I believe you need to be able to adapt to each one to achieve the desired outcome for your client.”