Under Bill Ostlund's leadership — along with business partner Jeff LaFavre — Minneapolis-based Coldwell Banker Commercial Griffin Cos. earned the 2012 Commercial Elite award given to the top 15 Coldwell Banker Commercial-affiliated companies globally. CBC has more than 200 offices. This is CBC Griffin's fourth consecutive year landing a spot. Griffin Cos. joined the CBC network in 2008.
The 13-broker firm completed 112 transactions in 2012, including sales and leases. Many of the sales fell under the company's "business brokerage" division launched in 2011. While buying and selling businesses is not usually offered by commercial real estate companies, Ostlund says that there's often a real estate component and that it was a way to diversify during the downturn. The move paid off: 2012 sales totaled $38 million and included Redstone American Grill buying Boston's Restaurant in Maple Grove and French Meadow Bakery & Cafe buying the CC Club in Minneapolis. CBC Griffin has another 35 businesses valued at more than $50 million listed for sale.
The son of a land surveyor/developer, Ostlund has been in the real estate business since 1981. He started as a sales and leasing associate with Griffin Cos., and was named sales manager in 1999 and managing partner in 2000.
Q: What does the award mean?
A: It's an honor. It's a great brand. It's very recognizable in the business and investment world. We're in good company with these affiliates.
Q: How important is the CBC affiliation?
A: We're a medium-sized company. We're not a boutique or a shop that has 60, 70 brokers. But the combination of our CBC affiliation and local resources means we really are a single point of contact for our clients. We can help them around the whole life cycle — from acquisition to disposition — and all the stuff in between, locally as well as nationally.
Q: How has the company adapted over the years?
A: We're not the same business we were even two years ago, because of the need to change, adapt and run to opportunities. We recruited Michael Palm to launch the business brokerage group, and Jeff came on as my business partner in 2011 to lead our corporate solutions group. Also, in response to the market and opportunities, Robert Bayer and Dale Severson increased our experience around REO (real-estate-owned properties), working with banks and acting as a receiver.
Q: How would you describe your management style?
A: I enjoy watching and helping people grow. Your organization grows as people grow. If you can get them in the right seat on the bus and in a place where they're passionate about what they're doing, it's great to be part of that. It's kind of a player-coach style vs. a top-down style.
Liz Wolf is a freelance writer in Eagan. She can be reached at wolflizz99@aol.com.
