The biggest lesson Barry Missner, president of The Missner Group, has learned working in industrial real estate, is that success is measured over a longer horizon. He notes that as a young person this can be frustrating. Luckily, with 20 plus years of experience in the business, Missner’s success has a very long track record.
In 1990, Barry Missner was a recent college graduate trying to find work in commercial real estate. Unfortunately, due to the recession, which had a significant impact on commercial real estate, there weren’t many opportunities in the industry.
“After nine months of job hunting, my father said I was to come to work for him at The Missner Group, a full-service real estate firm founded by my grandfather in 1945, until I found permanent employment. My role at my father’s company ended up a permanent job and the rest, as they say, is history.”
Fast forward 20 plus years in the industry, Missner says it is hard to pin down one particular driving force that has kept him in the business after all these years, but what certainly keeps him engaged is the problem solving nature of development, construction and investment.
“There is always the ability to be innovative or solve a problem in a different way,” he said. “Executing an industrial development is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, in that it is tangible. It also has the ability to stand the test of time. If I drive by a building we developed, whether we still own it or not, I can remember what it took to create. I enjoy knowing that I helped to create a piece of the community.”
That joy Missner feels is exactly what has set The Missner Group apart from other companies for the last 69 years. “The personal involvement of a company principal sets us apart from other industrial organizations. As a family-owned firm of our size, a “Missner” has direct involvement in every project.”
The Missner Group is currently developing a new 150,000 square foot, design-build warehouse in Aurora, Illinois. “The property, owned by KTR Capital Partners, is also under construction by our firm,” he said. “The property, scheduled for completion in fall 2014, is divisible to 20,000 square feet and can accommodate up to four tenants with office space available to-suit.”
When Missner isn’t working, he enjoys playing golf, cycling, and traveling, likely with the three most important people to him, his wife Eda, and kids Cade and Logan. He’s also completed four Ironman Triathlons, so if you ever feel the need to test his endurance and stamina, keep that in mind.
