CLEVELAND—Lee & Associates has just taken another step in its national expansion by opening a new office in Cleveland, the seventh in the Midwest but the first in Ohio. The company now has 50 offices across the country. Bradley Coven, Jeremy Steiger and Joseph Greenberg will lead Lee & Associates Cleveland.

“This marks a significant move on our part to get a foothold in the Ohio market as well as growing our Midwest presence and adding an additional outreach to all our offices nationwide,” says Jeffrey M. Rinkov, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Lee & Associates. “It's only fitting that our 50th office would be headed by three outstanding individuals in Bradley, Jeremy and Joseph, who will give us expert leadership and services in the Cleveland commercial real estate market.”

The latest expansion follows a series of recent Lee office openings in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Naples/Ft. Myers, FL, Charleston, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Greenville, SC. Company officials say they will continue their strategy of nationwide expansion in 2014 and beyond.

The company has established itself in Cleveland at a promising time. The city was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 15 emerging downtowns in the United States for 2012 and 2013. And, as reported in GlobeSt.com, since 2011 the metro area has seen $5.5 billion in new healthcare, hospitality, multifamily, office, industrial and retail development. Major projects include downtown's new 422,000-square-foot Global Center for Health Innovation, the Cleveland Convention Center, several major hotels, and over 1,000 downtown apartments, now almost 100% occupied.

Coven, a 16-year veteran in commercial real estate, comes from the firm Coven-Goldman Associates, where he was a principal. Coven-Goldman will continue in business as a developer, investor and property manager. It owns and operates more than 1.5-million-square-feet of office and warehouse space. Prior to joining Coven-Goldman in 2001, Coven was with CB Richard Ellis Cleveland.

Steiger started his real estate career in the Cleveland area in 1996 and his specializations include representing landlords in the lease or purchase of office and light industrial property. During his real estate career, which included the formation of his own company, he has represented owners of office and light industrial property in procuring tenants and buyers. His resume includes a number of medical office transactions and he has negotiated leases and building purchases for some of the top practices and hospitals in Cleveland, Lee officials say.

Greenberg has 15 years of commercial real estate experience. For the last seven years, he has run Greenberg Real Estate Advisors, which specializes in landlord representation. At the time of his transition from Greenberg Real Estate Advisors to Lee & Associates, the firm handled the leasing of nearly 4-million-square-feet in Northeast Ohio.

"Jeremy, Joseph and I are extremely excited about this opportunity to be part of Lee & Associates,” says Coven. “Our decision was carefully thought out and it became apparent that if we wanted to accomplish all our goals, Lee would help us arrive there. The ability to have a national outreach with an exceptional group of brokers in the Midwest and nationwide is a rare opportunity and we look forward to building our office, expanding our markets and service groups and contribute to the firm's national platform."

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Brian J. Rogal

Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.