|
|
Print Friendly
|
The Buzz Downtown July 2006
|
Reprinted with permission
|
|
|
|
Kaiser: Commercial Condo King
|
by Wylene Carol
|
|
For Jeff Kaiser, running his own business is a lot like following another of his passions: fly fishing. In both environments, you have to constantly adjust for ever-changing conditions, be still on the outside, yet vigilant and analytic.
And adjust he does. In the commercial brokerage business for 27 years, Kaiser started out in Phoenix, but, preferring a smaller city on a path of gradual growth, he moved to the Springs in 1983. After working in large firms, he started his own company in 1999. Since then, he has become known around town as the guru of commercial condos.
Currently he's a one-man operation, assisted by his wife, who keeps the books. "I used to do absolutely everything myself," he recalls. "I took the photos, designed the brochures, went door-to-door with my fliers, and typed my own contracts. I was ahead of my peers in design and technology. But to keep up with these things and take them to a higher level, I needed help, so now I depend on my partnership with 30dps." This outsourcing allows him to spend time with his clients and prospect for new ones. As he maintains, in one of his frequent fly-fisher analogies, "You can't catch a fish if your line's not in the water. I can't serve any clients if I'm not available to meet with them."
Although Kaiser deals with properties throughout the city, he chose downtown for his headquarters at 501 N. Nevada. "I've worked downtown since moving here," he says. "It's all I know. I like walking to lunches or appointments down here. I always try to leave my office a little early because I run into someone I know and need time to talk. Try doing that along Academy Boulevard!"
Even inside the downtown core are new conditions Kaiser is adapting to, including renovation projects and exciting new commercial condos. He was involved with Dan Robertson (S. & R. Construction) in the Daniels, Carriage House, and Giddings Loft projects and is currently brokering spaces in the Giddings II building, now under construction. In fact, he has already leased one of the Giddings II retail spaces to Tejon Tan.
Kaiser's approach to business reflects his independent entrepreneurship. As he says, "If you hire my firm, you hire me. You know who you're going to be working with." He acknowledges, however, that many people have inspired and guided him along the way: "I have mentors in business and in my spiritual life. These are people who will take time to share their values and ethics and define their success not by bank accounts, but by the relationships established." Also, he's motivated by devotion to his family. "I am deeply proud," he says, "of my wife's character, my son's courage, and my daughter's wisdom. My kids are in college, and I enjoy watching their adult lives unfold and seeing what's next for them."
But don't let his calm, quiet, relationship-orientated demeanor fool you. He's devoted to reeling in the big ones, and kingship is something he's been shouldering lately, as evidenced by his recent catch -- this 30 pound Alaskan King Salmon.
|
|
|
