Each year, Midwest Real Estate News runs its Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame issue, highlighting the careers of the most successful CRE pros in the Midwest. This year, we are also running those profiles online. Here is a look at the career of Ralph DePasquale, senior director with the Chicago office of Berkadia.
A straight shooter: Ralph DePasquale says that playing it straight is one of the things that makes his work worthwhile, as well as worth it to his firm, Berkadia.
He told us that he prizes his “commitment to remaining straightforward with my clients, and providing them with quality, consultative data so that they may make informed decisions. Presenting opinions that are honest in terms of values, setting realistic expectations and outlining clear paths to hitting those marks may have cost me business at times – maybe more than I care to recall – but I believe that my upstanding reputation has allowed me to be successful in the industry.”
Idealistic: Idealism may be expected of a guy like DePasquale, who started his career at Grubb & Ellis while he was still seeking his bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
This idealism continued as he earned his master’s degree in business administration from the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University. He worked for five years at the big and civic-minded Draper & Kramer. He then served 13 years at Hendricks & Partners. After Hendricks was purchased by Berkadia in 2013, he became a managing director at the Chicago office. He helped that crew make it to $1 billion in 2016.
“I’m usually selling twice: first, myself and my capabilities, along with the benefits that working with Berkadia brings to obtain the assignment,” he said. “Only after that am I able to begin selling properties to new investors.
The spice that is variety: “While the process of what we do is similar in many cases, I enjoy the fact that each deal is just a little different, which makes each transaction new and challenging in its own way,” DePasquale said. “The commercial real estate industry offers opportunities to solve problems or reach and surpass goals, which are all opportunities that I relish, along with the creativity that the job requires. The clients and colleagues I’ve built relationships with over the years, and the various personalities I interact with all contribute to the enjoyment I find in the industry and my role.”
Committed to his industry: DePasquale is an active member of the Chicagoland Apartment Association, the National Multihousing Council, and the Urban Land Institute. He’s a licensed broker in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota – and a licensed pilot. Recently, he’s been flying from the ground, too – with drones.
