One of Michigan’s most respected woman-owned commercial real estate companies, Troy, Michigan-based Compass Commercial/ITRA Global is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this month while also expanding both its team and service offerings.
Founded by Lynn Drake in 2010, the Troy-based firm specializes exclusively in tenant representation for local and national clients with a focus on new office, medical office and industrial clients. Drake, who is president of Compass, has more than 35 years experience in commercial real estate.
Joining the company this year will be Patrick Balice, a long-time manager at DTE Energy. He will take on the role of vice president of sales and operations.
For her work at Compass, Drake has received many honors including being named to the Midwest Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame by Midwest Real Estate News, being named an Entrepreneur of Distinction by Corp! Magazine and receiving an Outstanding Achiever award by CEED Microloan of Oakland County.
Drake is part of Power of 100 Women, an initiative of Michigan Women Forward focused on supporting Michigan’s women business owners. She is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program.
Compass clients have included the State of Michigan Department of Technology Management and Budget, Comcast, Beaumont Hospital and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. The firm is certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) and Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB).
“I have worked hard to succeed in a heavily-male dominated industry,” Drake said. “I take pride in being in an elite group of 5 percent of the females practicing commercial real estate.”
In addition to her work at Compass, Drake has focused on volunteering for various organizations including the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan, which honored her in 2013 with a “One Tough Cookie” recognition for helping Girl Scouts work on their Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve.
An author of the book “Do you speak lease?” Drake remains proud of her company’s focus on always maintaining “truth north” when it comes to helping her corporate clients.
Balice spent more than 40 years with DTE as a principal business analyst, helping its customers with power transmission, lighting, survey and electric planning. A graduate of Central Michigan, Balice’s background in industrial business management will assist Compass as the firm begins to offer construction management services next year.
