Midwest Real Estate News each year inducts a new class into its Midwest Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. We are also running profiles of these numbers online. Today, we focus on the career of Ron Goldstone, executive vice president with the Southfield, Michigan, office of NAI Farbman.
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1986, Ron Goldstone joined NAI Farbman and began his commercial real estate career. Now with more than 33 years notched at NAI Farbman, Goldstone specializes in creative solutions to challenged retail real estate, from repositioning shopping centers to creative reuses of vacant mid- and big-box retail developments.
One of Goldman’s first career highlights was representing Extended Stay America on the acquisition of more than 20 prime commercial hotel sites throughout the state of Michigan. Goldstone also represented the consortium that acquired Mervyn’s California from Target Corporation. He valued the 12 Michigan assets, totaling more than 1 million square feet, prior to their successful acquisition.
Upon getting engaged in the repositioning, Goldstone structed multiple leases with national retailers including Big Lots, Burlington Coat Factory, Buy Buy Baby and many others, then represented them on the single- or multi-tenant net lease dispositions.
“Today more than ever, with the rapidly changing consumer spending habits, we have an abundance of surplus mid- and big-box retail throughout the country,” Goldstone said. “The greatest challenge I have had to endure is that while some communities understand this structural shift on retail creating a surplus of available boxes, others tend to be lost and are reciting zoning ordinances that were written before there was the Internet. Subsequently, many opportunities are lost chasing retailers that will never materialize.”
“I feel that my drive, loyalty and never-give-up mentality has been the key to my success in the real estate business. Never give up! I have always joked with colleagues that I have made a career in this challenging business by not accepting the word ‘no,’” Goldstone said.