Clear Height Properties Names Kurt Angst as New Director of Property Management; Elevates Role of Rick Nevarez to Director of Acquisitions and Leasing

Clear Height Properties has named Kurt Angst to the position of Director of Property Management while also promoting Rick Nevarez to Director of Acquisitions and Leasing as the firm continues to grow and expand its presence in the Chicago metro area through strategic new acquisitions. The announcement was made by Dominic Sergi, CEO/President, Clear Height Properties.

“We are always looking for good talent to enhance the agility and flexibility of our operations and to elevate our game at Clear Height,” says Sergi. “Kurt’s established track record with some great, dynamic organizations will help us continue to grow and meet the needs of our tenant base. While the ability to focus Rick’s efforts on acquisitions, and leasing, gives us the ability to be better partners to the brokerage and investment community of who we greatly value.”

Clear Height now has amassed a portfolio of 33 properties, totaling over 2.5 million square feet of space, including most recent acquisitions of a 354,000-square-foot headquarters, manufacturing and distribution facility fully leased to Kenall Lighting, Inc., and 26TWENTYFIVE, a 210,000-square-foot office building in Oak Brook.

Kurt Angst brings approximately 20 years of experience to his role leading all property management functions at Clear Height. In his role as Director of Property management, Angst will oversee tenant relations, process management, building oversight and maintenance, and risk management for the Clear Height asset base.

Previously, he was a Senior Asset Manager for HSA Commercial Real Estate providing oversight for approximately 45+ assets in 11 states. He was actively involved in leasing/broker relations and instrumental in providing leadership and support with regards to new development/re-development opportunities as well as acquisition and disposition of existing assets.  Prior to HSA, Kurt worked for DCT Industrial, Inc. as a Senior Property Manager/Broker responsible for approximately 50 assets totaling nearly 12 million square feet.

Angst is a graduate of Michigan State University Eli Broad College of Business where he received his B.A. in Materials and Logistics Management with a dual emphasis in Purchasing and Operations Management. He is a licensed real estate broker with the State of Illinois and a recent member of BOMA Chicago.

With Angst taking on all property management responsibilities, Rick Nevarez moves into the role of Director of Asset Management and Leasing. In this role he will be the lead on the acquisition and leasing team and provide a direct contact for the brokerage and investment community in bringing opportunities to Clear Height Properties.

Nevarez is a 12+ year commercial real estate veteran. Prior to joining Clear Height, Rick worked at ML Realty Partners, a private industrial real estate investor, Nevarez oversaw third party management and brokerage teams. He began his career in the commercial real estate industry with global industrial real estate investment trust Prologis. His responsibilities included management, leasing, client retention, project management, and overseeing an operating budget of six (6) million square feet of industrial and office real estate. While at Prologis, he coordinated multi-million dollar disposition of Industrial Real Estate to the City of Chicago/O’Hare Modernization Project.

Nevarez is a graduate of DePaul University, Driehaus College of Business, B.S. in Finance and Management and a Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Illinois. He is actively involved in the DePaul Real Estate Alumni Alliance (DREAA) and is also a member of Young Real Estate Professionals (YREP), Young Professional of Chicago (YPC) and International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

The new roles of Nevarez and Angst at Clear Height Properties come as the firm continues to refine and advance its acquisition philosophy which creates a need for key people in very important roles within the firm.

“The role-up-your sleeves of Value-add opportunities historically have been, and will continue to be, our bread and butter,” adds Sergi. “But at this point in the cycle, and with the help of capital partners, we believe it’s a great time to acquire Core Plus, stable with a little hair, right now, and we’re ready to take advantage of the opportunities.”

For example, in July Clear Height announced the acquisition of Kenall Lighting’s corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility, a 354,000-square-foot core-plus investment opportunity. Sergi expects that Clear Height will do anywhere from three to five similar transactions—great assets with a compelling story and opportunity—annually.