Cressy Commercial Real Estate merges with Mno-Bmadsen
Mishawaka-based Cressy Commercial Real Estate this week announced it has merged with Mno-Bmadsen, the nongaming investment arm of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, based in Michigan. While financial terms are not being disclosed, Cressy CEO Chris Fielding said the merger gives the firm a deeper reach into a set of services that it previously did not provide, such as civil engineering and architecture.
“They also complement the services that we provide to our customers through brokerage management, maintenance, and construction,” Fielding said. “So, the marriage of all those services really creates a really powerful, all in-house provider of most of the services that a client would need.”
Mno-Bmadsen CEO Julio Martinez told IIB the merger was a long time coming after deciding to move into the commercial real estate space and making several co-investments with Cressy.
“As we continued to grow the rest of our portfolio, in particular the professional services, which is architects and engineers, it started to become more clear that this strategy would work really well for both of us,” said Martinez. “We would be able to take the experience that Cressy Commercial Real Estate has in that sector and then expand it geographically across the country, and it would complement our professional services expertise as well.”
Mno-Bmadsen employs about 600 people, while Cressy employs about 100. The companies said there are no plans to cut any jobs and they anticipate growth following the merger.
Each company will continue to operate under their respective brands with Fielding continuing as CEO and Cressy’s current partners continuing in their roles. Fielding said the two companies have similar goals, and having each other’s services available will make it easier to achieve them.
“When we’re looking to invest, we don’t take a short view,” Fielding said. “We’re not looking to develop properties and communities and then flip out of them quickly. We want to be mainstays in communities and build bases of business there. And those values really aligned really well with Mno-Bmadsen and the tribe.”
Both Martinez and Cressy said the next step is to bring all of their combined resources to clients across the country.
“That component was missing from our ability to sit down with a potential client and say, ‘Look, we can provide this entire turnkey operation,'” Martinez said. “There’s a number of investments also across the country and projects that we can bid on much more successfully by using their expertise on the real estate side.”
Cressy’s headquarters are located in Mishawaka, but the 75-year-old firm also has offices in Elkhart, Indianapolis, Michigan and South Bend.