Steve Groetsema, chief operating officer, Bridge Development Partners, Chicago, IL (Skyline photo by Tony Burns/Flickr.com under Creative Commons license)
CHICAGO, IL—Bridge Development Partners named Steve Groetsema of the company's Chicago office chief operating officer. Groetsema will support Bridge's continued national and international industrial real estate portfolio expansion, in addition to enhancing the company's internal infrastructure and processes that drive its acquisition, development, and property management operations.
“As Bridge has continued to rapidly expand in markets throughout the United States—completing more than $1 billion in transactions last year alone—and into international markets, we've realized that there's a need for an enhanced company-wide internal infrastructure to streamline and further scale our operations,” says Bridge's founder and CEO Steve Poulos. “We've added the position of chief operating officer to our executive team to fulfill this need – and there is no better man for the job than Steve. Since Steve began his career with Bridge 12 years ago, it's been a pleasure to work closely with him as he's grown alongside the company, and we're thrilled that we now have the opportunity to benefit from his robust leadership skills and experience at the national level.”
Groetsema's roster of responsibilities at the national level will include—but not be limited to—overseeing Bridge's internal investment and due diligence committees, liaising with the company's capital partners, supporting all property management staffing needs, and serving as a point of contact for employee and organizational relations, while also overseeing the day-to-day operations of Bridge and its regional offices.
“Steve and I began working at Bridge at the same time, 12 years ago,” says Tony Pricco, Bridge's president. “In this relatively short period of time, we've experienced incredible growth within Bridge, and Steve has been an instrumental part of that success. I'm excited to work more closely with him in his new role as part of the executive team, as we continue our expansion.”
Since Bridge was founded in 2000, the company quickly grew in the Chicago market, and soon thereafter established a strong presence in the core industrial markets of South Florida, New York/New Jersey, California, and Washington. As its pipeline of acquisition, development, and leasing activity continues to expand nationally and internationally, Groetsema will lead the company in maximizing efficiency and ensuring process uniformity.
Groetsema joined Bridge in 2007 and became one of only five national partners in 2016—and has held various roles throughout Bridge's expansion. Before assuming the role of COO, Steve was Bridge's Midwest Partner from 2015 through 2018, during which time he was responsible for Bridge's acquisition and development activities throughout Chicagoland and southern Wisconsin.
Two Bridge projects under Groetsema's leadership, Bridge Point North I and Bridge Point 290, were named NAIOP's “Industrial Speculative Development of the Year” in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and the company was recently named 2018 Developer of the Year by the Greater Chicago Food Depository at the Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards.
Groetsema has executed transactions on over 12 million square feet of industrial real estate with a value in excess of $1 billion during his career and has helped make Bridge one of the most active industrial development firms in Chicago and nationwide.
Groetsema holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from Illinois Wesleyan University. He has appeared on Real Estate Forum's “50 under 40” list in 2018 (Real Estate Forum is the print sister publication of GlobeSt.com). He is a member of NAIOP and currently serves on the NAIOP Chicago Chapter board of directors.
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Steve Lubetkin
Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].
