30 Years Of Creating Value. As the year comes to a close, there’s always a time for taking stock and making plans for the future. It is especially poignant this year as we celebrate our 30th year in business.

Thirty years ago, the prospects for Concordia Realty were not rosy. We were a bootstrap operation, in a 400 square-foot office, in the attic (literally the attic) of a retail building in Oak Park, Illinois. The office was a fire trap with exposed wires and only one egress down a narrow set of stairs. The floor sloped into the middle of the room so much that we had to shim up the front of the file cabinets 2 to 3 inches so they would not come flying out and kill someone when opened.

1990 was the height of a recession. Maybe you can remember the phrase in that era’s presidential election “it’s the economy stupid” At the 1990 ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) annual convention in Las Vegas, the motto was “Stay alive until 1995”.
Those were the formative years for Concordia Realty. Being formed in adversity has given us a unique perspective on business cycles and how they affect real estate projects and investments. We have survived and thrived through 3 downturns and the resulting peaks after the troughs. We learned not to panic when problems arise but instead see opportunity. Most importantly, we have built a nationwide network of financial partners, specialists, lawyers, consultants, and contractors that can assist us with solving almost any problem and exploit any opportunity. The past 30 years have taught us that theory is great, but experience is better.