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Aaron N. Gruen, Esq. Principal |
Aaron N. Gruen has led or played a key role in the completion of more than 250 assignments for public entities, corporations, financial institutions, law firms, and publicly-traded and privately-held real estate investors and developers. Mr. Gruen applies the analytical concepts and techniques of sociology and economics in conducting market research to estimate demands for a broad variety of land uses and real estate products and transportation modes. He combines market and economic research with financial analysis to identify and evaluate land use and economic development policies and value-enhancing development, redevelopment, public asset management and occupancy strategies. Many of these assignments have involved pre-development market, financial and impact evaluation, land use programming, and development implementation strategy and negotiation support that have also drawn on his legal training. Mr. Gruen's work has contributed to the programming and implementation of the development and redevelopment of office, retail, industrial, and residential properties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Mr. Gruen has assisted Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority with programming and implementing revenue-generating asset enhancement and joint development programs for their transit stations. He has contributed to the formulation of successful reuse and deposition strategies for real estate owned by the State of California and the San Francisco School District. He led the market research and financial analysis to program and estimate the value of the disposition and reuse of the now closed 75-acre Fed C. Nelles’ Youth Correctional Facility in Whittier, California. He also conducted the financial analysis to estimate the values and returns from alternative reuse options for the San Quentin Prison and contributed market research and analysis for the planning and disposition of the award-winning Agnews Developmental Center in Silicon Valley.
For private entities such as the Alleghany Properties, Inc., Alter Group, AMB Properties, John Knox Village, Pulte Homes, Red Seal Development, Regency Centers, Ryland Homes, Strong Capital Management, The Home Depot, Valenti Builders, and The Verde Group, Mr. Gruen has directed market research, financial analysis, and impact analysis to identify entitlement, development, tenanting, and marketing strategies for the development or enhancement of business parks, shopping centers, hotels, office buildings, and housing uses.
Market, investment, and fiscal and economic impact analysis provided by Mr. Gruen has served as the inputs and framework for the preparation and adoption of comprehensive and specific land use plans, downtown revitalization, and making decisions about economic development and infrastructure programs and land use policies for the California cities of Brentwood, Carlsbad, Daly City, Elk Grove, Milpitas, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Rosa and Salinas; and for many Illinois communities including Algonquin, Aurora, Buffalo Grove, Downers Grove, East Dundee, Flossmoor, Harvard, Hanover Park, Hinsdale, Montgomery, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Oak Park, Ottawa, Schiller Park, South Elgin, West Chicago, Zion, and Kane County (IL); Scottsdale (AZ); Greeley (CO); Overland Park and Wichita (KS); City of Crystal (MN), Liberty (MS); Reno (NV); Hobbs and Lea County (NM); and Bristol, Brookfield, Kenosha, La Crosse, Menomonee Falls and Oak Creek (WI). For the City of San Diego, he led a GG+A team that identified an asset management strategy for providing office space for 3,000 municipal workers in the Downtown. He led GG+A teams that provided the financial forecasts and analyses of alternatives for meeting the County of San Bernardino's long-term office space needs and for meeting Orange County’s space needs as well as opportunities to reduce occupancy costs and generate revenues from its real estate portfolio.
Mr. Gruen has led many fiscal impact assessments of proposed housing, industrial, office, retail, hotel, and auto center uses. He has led economic impact studies on a variety of activities, including the closing of a major Motorola plant in Harvard (IL), the development of a major shopping center in Greeley (CO), and the opening of a museum in Peoria (IL). He has also contributed to the evaluation and forecasting of municipal revenues and expenditures for rapidly growing cities that need to adjust their budgets to reflect their more built-out conditions. He has led municipal tax policy studies to identify measures for raising revenues.
Mr. Gruen has performed market and economic research for antitrust, rent control and condemnation and zoning-related litigation. He led a nationally recognized hedonic price study conducted for the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) on the effects of transit station proximity on residential property values. He conducted focus panels for the University of Chicago to help the University plan housing developments and neighborhood retail enhancements.
Prior to joining Gruen Gruen + Associates, Mr. Gruen was employed by Winston Management and Investment, Inc. He participated in an award-winning restoration of a 650,000-square-foot national landmark office building designed by Daniel Burnham. He was responsible for the marketing and leasing of the property's retail and office space and brought the building from 50 percent leased to 99 percent leased. He performed market research and analyzed a broad variety of acquisition and deposition, leasing, and financing transaction for the firm's real estate portfolio.
Mr. Gruen earned a B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. He is licensed as an attorney at law in the State of Illinois. He is a member of the Illinois Bar Association and American Bar Association. He holds a State of Illinois Real Estate Brokers License. He is a full member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he serves on the Industrial and Office Park Council and on the Program Committee. He is a member of the Lambda Alpha Honorary Land Economics Society. He is a Bell Real Estate Chair Advisor for the Marquette University College of Business Administration. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Group of the Real Estate Capital Institute. His article, "Takings, Just Compensation and the Efficient Use of Land, Urban and Environmental Resources" was published in The Urban Lawyer, the National Quarterly on State and Local Government Law. His legal articles have also appeared in California Bar Association and Illinois Bar Association publications. His articles on transit oriented development and place placing and real estate development success have been published in Urban Land the magazine of the Urban Land Institute.
