Each week, Midwest Real Estate News runs profiles of the newest members of its Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. Today, we look at the thriving career of Michael Kalil, chief operating officer and director of brokerage at Farbman Group/NAI Farbman in Southfield, Michigan.
Years in the business: 25
Racking up the numbers: Since joining Farbman Group/NAI Farbman in 1993, Michael Kalil has held leasing and management responsibilities for more than 20 million square feet of office, industrial and retail properties.
That’s impressive enough. But Kalil also supervises the property management division at Farbman, which manages more than 25 million square feet of retail, industrial, office and medical office buildings. At the same time, Kalil is director of brokerage, managing more than 30 commercial brokers.
Tackling the big deals: During his busy career, Kalil has handled several major transactions. He led the receivership and real estate services for the repositioning of a 1-million-square-foot industrial park in Detroit and did the same for the repositioning of a 500,000-square-foot regional mall in Holland, Michigan.
Kalil handled the receivership and real estate services for the repositioning of a 1.5-million-square-foot regional mall in Randall Park, Ohio; played a key role in the development and construction of the ambulatory expansion program at Detroit Medical Center; and handled the property management, leasing and repositioning duties at the Greater Penobscott Building, a 1-million-square-foot high-rise office building in downtown Detroit.
Always learning: Like many of the top CRE pros in the Midwest, Kalil is a believer in constant learning. He knows that there’s always something new to learn about commercial real estate.
“I enjoy learning something new every day, different challenges and problem-solving,” he said.
Active in his community: Kalil has plenty of responsibilities with Farbman Group. But that hasn’t stopped him from giving back to his community. He has been active on various non-profit boards, including the Restore Foundation, Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion, Holy Cross Children Services and the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
Kalil has also given his time to organizations such as the Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Southfield City Centre.
Loving his job: “I am fortunate that I truly enjoy what I do, where I am employed and have a talented team to work with each and every day,” Kalil said.
Out-of-office hours: When not managing properties and helping to reposition assets, Kalil enjoys tennis, golf, boating, travel and spending time with family and friends.
