Robert Wilson, Principal Broker of The CREST Group, has been immersed in the commercial real estate arena for over 25 years. Transitioning to a real estate career from corporate level management at McDonald's and Wendy's, Robert's commercial real estate career has included working on property transactions from nearly every imaginable perspective. A wise diplomat once stated, "First understand.... that you may be understood ". In the context of commercial real estate, The CREST Group offers its clients an unparalleled understanding from every perspective of the transaction. The individual that you work with has personally lived the role of the corporate tenant, the developer, the landlord, the buyer, the seller, and the investor. Possessing the ability to understand a transaction from all sides creates the "perfect storm" of knowledge and skills necessary to be a real estate professional who is poised to exceed a client's normal expectations.
SELECTED LISTINGS
BIOGRAPHY
of BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
As a transition from his position as a Restaurant
Operations V.P., Robert became the VP of Real Estate and Development
for one
of the largest franchised operators of Wendy's Restaurants in the U.S.
-- a position that he held
for nearly ten years. Working in the Wendy's environment and
covering parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Florida, extensive
experience was
gained in the areas of site selection, property acquisition, planning,
zoning,
& permit entitlements, coordination of legal matters, and
the
oversight of architects, engineers and construction personnel. Departing Wendy's in the late 1980's, Robert became a commercial real estate sales agent associated with Edward J. Lewis, Inc. of Youngstown, OH. Under the close mentoring of the Lewis staff, a wealth of knowledge was imparted from that firm's 50+ years experience in the commercial real estate business. The Lewis organization had bona fide experts in retail, industrial and office real estate as well as investment properties, and Wilson was well-exposed to this broad base of knowledge and experience. During his time with Lewis, Robert worked extensively as a site selector to expand the Monro Muffler and Rally's Restaurant chains throughout eastern Ohio as well as working on the development and leasing of his first retail strip center..
Next came a two year stint as a retail leasing agent. Robert worked for two of the largest retail property developers Akron and Canton respectively for whom he leased large and small shopping center properties spanning geographically from the New Jersey coast to as far west as North Dakota.
In 1992, Robert completed the additional educational and other requirements to elevate his credentials and became a fully Licensed Broker and thus commenced his independent practice. Armed with a solid and diverse background of working as a corporate real estate representative, a licensed sales agent, and a developer's retail leasing agent, Robert was well prepared to make a major impact in the profession. First engaged by the Blockbuster Video Corporation in 1993 to secure what was deemed an "impossible" site location, Wilson delivered the goods and exceeded the client's expectations by also procuring an investor and builder for the project. That accomplishment earned him the exclusive right to represent Blockbuster Video in several NE Ohio counties -- a position that continues thirteen years and many deals later and that first challenging video store location is still one of the top performers in the tri-county area. Building on his Blockbuster success, Wilson was next tapped by Levey & Company of Akron to secure new store development sites for Walgreens Drug Stores. Walgreens is known as one of the most discriminating tenants of prime real estate sites in the country and working with the Levey Development team, Robert helped produce over 20 drug store sites in Ohio and North Carolina. During the Levey affiliation. Robert also identified and coordinated the acquisition of several new retail sites that totaled over 1/2 million developed square feet. Other deals included generating numerous smaller developments of retail, industrial, and office properties. While assisting the growth of the Levey Company portfolio by nearly a million total square feet, Robert also assisted the growth plans of clients Blockbuster Video, Donatos Pizzeria (McDonald's), KFC, Tire Kingdom / NTB, Rite Aid, CVS, Home Depot, and other national companies via various transactions in which he participated.
In addition to his real estate
skills, Robert
is an instrument rated private pilot and aircraft owner and operates an
aerial photography company as a subsidiary of the Crest Group (Best
Sites
Aerial Photos). In his
first candidacy for public office in November, 2005, Wilson was elected
as and is now serving as a Trustee of his local Township government
where he had
previously chaired
the local zoning commission for six years. Robert is also a
15+ year member
of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)..
THERE IS NO
SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE
The Crest Group, Ltd.
458 Saunders Ave. # 100
Akron, OH 44319
PH (330) 644-3200
Click To E-Mail >> crestweb2mail@crestgrp.com