Who we are
What we provide
Commercial Equity Partners is a real estate investment firm managed by industry veterans John Gross and Jeff Johnson. We raise debt and equity for private real estate offerings, seeking multi-tenant properties with stable cash flow in the $2.5M to $10M value range. We are most interested in industrial properties, and are more selective with office and retail properties.
We target high quality stable properties that maximize return on investment, personally fund pre-closing costs, and personally sign loan documents, all of which eliminates exposure for our clients. The firm is responsible for underwriting assets and coordinating due diligence, loan funding and closing activities. After a property is acquired, the firm implements business plans and directs day to day operations.
By co-investing together with our clients, we create better investment opportunities while limiting the financial exposure of individual investors. Our objective is to build a portfolio of stable investment properties, generating consistent and increasing cash flows that are distributed to our investors.
We make real estate investing easy for our clients.
Executive Team |
John R. Gross and Jeff E. Johnson have been working together since 2003, completing $75M of real estate transactions during that time. In 2015 Mr. Gross founded Commercial Equity Partners, LLC. Based on their strong working relationship, Mr. Johnson joined shortly thereafter and together they handle the company operations and principal investments.
John R. Gross
President
Jeff E. Johnson
Executive Vice President
Mr. Gross began his career in commercial real estate in 1992 with CBRE Group, Inc. (“CBRE”) in Chicago, Illinois. He served as Director of CBRE’s Financial Consulting Group for the West Coast and Investment Advisor in San Diego, California. In 2005, he joined Colliers International, where he served as Managing Director of Private Capital Advisors, investment brokerage practice and Vice President, investment property sales. In 2015 he founded Commercial Equity Partners, where he currently serves as President.
During his career, Mr. Gross has been responsible for strategy development, financial structuring and negotiation of real estate assignments with an aggregate value in excess of $4.5 billion.
In 1991, Mr. Gross earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from DePaul University. He holds a Real Estate Salesperson License with the State of California, Bureau of Real Estate (License #01205055).
Mr. Johnson began his career in 1984 when he joined the law firm of Gray Cary Ames & Frye as an associate in the real estate department. In 1988, he joined McKellar Development of La Jolla as General Counsel. He serves as a principal and Executive Vice President of McKellar McGowan LLC, where he oversees all legal and transactional affairs of the company and serves in a project management role, involving him in all aspects of acquisition, finance, entitlement, design, development, and sale. In 2015 Mr. Johnson started as Executive Vice President and principal of Commercial Equity Partners, LLC, providing operational and legal oversight of the firm’s transactional business.
During his career, Mr. Johnson has been responsible for projects involving acquisition, finance, entitlement, development, and sale of thousands of homes and apartments, millions of square feet of office and industrial properties, and numerous residential and commercial land transactions.
Mr. Johnson earned a J.D. from Hastings College of the Law in 1983. He earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980. Mr. Johnson is a member of the California State Bar (#110779) and is a licensed California real estate broker (#01160177).
Our Investors
Our investors are like us – hard working individuals, building our financial futures by growing our assets, net worth and cash flow. All are “Accredited Investors” per SEC guidelines. Many of our investors are career real estate professionals.
We provide our investors with access to quality real estate. Acquiring quality assets as an individual is challenging: significant equity is required to obtain a property loan; sophisticated underwriting is needed; and high-level management is a must. Only a few have the resources, risk tolerance, time, and skill set required.
Commercial Equity Partners overcomes these challenges. We provide quality underwriting and management. By co-investing together with our clients, we create better investment opportunities while limiting the amount of financial exposure that any single investor needs to take. We are experienced real estate professionals and make it easy for our investors to add quality real estate positions to their portfolios.
We have consistently paid quarterly distributions and to date we have had no capital calls. We work with Alternate Investment Platforms so that Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) may advise their clients who hold investment with us.
Questions?
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What is the minimum investment?
What does it mean to be an “Accredited Investor”?
Is my investment targeted to just one property?
Can I add my investment with Commercial Equity Partners into my investment portfolio managed by my Financial Advisor?
Can I invest IRA funds?
Can I invest 1031 exchange funds?
“WE APPRECIATE HOW YOU HAVE IMPROVED THE PROPERTY – THANK YOU”
-Comments from our tenants at Commerce Plaza One
“I DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE CASH DISTRIBUTIONS SO QUICKLY”
-Comment from an investor
“REALLY APPRECIATE THE WAY YOU RUN PARTNERSHIPS”
-Comment from a long-term investor
“I’M AMAZED AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO THE PROPERY IN A SHORT TIME”
– Comment from a seasoned real estate investor