Harvey Camins gets back into property management

(Crain's) — Industry veteran Harvey Camins has returned to property management after a decade-long hiatus, gaining a commercial portfolio of nearly 2 million square feet in one fell swoop.

Mr. Camins, president and CEO of Chicago brokerage Camins Tomasz Kritt, will serve as managing director of the central division for a new joint venture of Lexington Realty Trust and private investment firm Means Knaus Partners L.P.

The Houston-based venture, Lexington MKP Management L.P., will perform property and construction management, leasing and development services for a 12-million-square-foot portfolio of office, retail and industrial buildings owned by New York-based Lexington. Mr. Camins will lead a 14-person team that will oversee 11 properties in five states, including two buildings in the Chicago area.

"We know how to grow a management business," Mr. Camins says. "In 1980 when we started, you did it one building at a time."

Accompanying Mr. Camins in the property management venture is Michael Tomasz, chairman of Camins Tomasz Kritt and a former CEO of First Industrial Realty Trust Inc.

Mr. Camins, who co-founded Chicago boutique firm Frain Camins & Swartchild in 1978, launched that company's property management group, which ultimately became one of the biggest in Chicago. He got out of the business in 2001, a couple years after selling Frain Camins when he left to form Camins Tomasz Kritt with Mr. Tomasz.

Now, Mr. Camins plans to go after management assignments from other investment firms, although he declined to disclose specific goals.

Diversifying into property management, with its predictable income, is a popular strategy in a down economy when leasing and sales activities are scarce. But it's often a short-lived measure, says Don Shapiro, president of Rosemont-based Foresite Realty Partners LLC, which has amassed a substantial management portfolio in the Midwest through court-appointed receiverships.

"For firms that are more brokerage-related, I think it's probably a short-term refocus," Mr. Shapiro says. "Property management doesn't come close to the brokerage side of the business" in terms of profitability.

Mr. Camins will be in charge of a 1.85-million-square-foot portfolio that's 94% leased. It includes 101 E. Erie St. in River North and 850-950 Warrenville Road in west suburban Lisle and nine properties in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.

The 224,565-square-foot Erie Street building is leased by advertising firm DraftFCB. The Lisle office building, which is 99,414 square feet, is one of National-Louis University's satellite campuses.

The properties previously were managed by Winthrop Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust with headquarters in Boston and New York.

Lexington, a REIT that specializes in single-tenant investments, owns 259 properties throughout the country, totaling 46 million square feet.

The scope of Houston-based Means Knaus has expanded dramatically as a result of the partnership, from 8 million square feet under management in six cities to 20 million square feet in 48 cities. The firm has also doubled its staff to 140, gaining many Winthrop employees that already work with the properties.

Doug Knaus, managing director and founding partner of Means Knaus Partners, says he has known Mr. Camins since their respective companies, Paragon Group Inc. and Frain Camins, were acquired by New York-based Insignia Financial Group Inc. around the same time. He calls Mr. Camins "a real estate expert" with longtime ties to the local market.