Real Estate Journal — 40 Under 40 — September 13 - 26, 2019 — 29D
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M id A tlantic
40 U nder 40 Rick Schontz, City Line Capital “Real Estate is a relationship business”
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be a successful broker in this in- dustry I need to get to the east coast and establish myself as a national broker rather than a regional broker. What unique qualities and or personality do you feel makes you most successful in your profession? My best qualities that make me a suc- cess at what I do are: 1) I am a chameleon. In our business, you have to be able to relate to main street and wall street and bridge the gap. 2) I am a creative deal maker. 3) I am persistent in chasing goals. 4) I am trustworthy.
hat is your great- est professional ac- complishment?
What challenges and or obstacles do you feel you needed to overcome to be- come as successful as you are today? The first obstacle was starting in real estate dur- ing a recession. While many people gave up and switched industries, I battled through some very tough economic times. I came out on the other side with a lot of respect from many influential people in the industry. In addition, I did not have a traditional business or real state background so everything that I have learned has been on the job.
Rick Schontz CEO Years with company/firm: 2.5 Years in field: 12 Years in real estate industry: 12 Real estate organizations/ affiliations: Self Storage Association
Starting City Line Capital and growing the company by acquiring 80 properties totaling six million s/f making us one of the Top 25 largest Self-Storage Companies in just 2.5 years. What is your most notable project, deal or transaction? A $30Million, 15 acres, 250,000 s/f Self-Storage/Industrial property in Atlanta-Industrial portion of the property will be repositioned in the near future, to either multi-family or office. How do you contribute to your company and / or the industry? As CEO, I have been able to make significant investment decisions on our 80+ property portfolio as well as foster and develop some of the brightest talent in the real estate industry. Who or what has been the strongest influence in your career? My wife. She is always pushing me to keep my foot on the gas in order to grow personally and profes- sionally. What impact has social media/networking had on your career? Real Estate is a relationship business. Net- working has been a pillar in my growth from the brokerage side of the business to the principal side. Tell us how and when you began your career in the profession you are in, about your current position and why you choose the field/ profession you are in today? I know very few people that have said “When I grow up, I want to be in the self-storage business”-most are tricked into it! I beganmy real estate career in brokerage with Marcus & Millichap in the Cleveland, OH market. I went into an ex- ploratory interview with Dan Burkons, who now is one of the best and most established multi-family brokers in the industry. Dan was looking to diversify by entering the self- storage brokerage business. We hit it off instantly after finding some common circles of people we both knew in real estate and he offered me a position as a self-storage broker. I knew nothing about self-storage so I began to do some research. What I found was a lack of specialization for such a vast and opportunistic market. I took the gig, that was in November of 2007…
certainly threw a wrench in my plans. Although this was a very difficult time with very low transaction volume, I learned very strong deal making fun- damentals such as how to think creatively and that if I want to
What were some of your early goals and did any- thing happen to change them? My early goals were to establish myself as the go- to broker for self-storage in the Midwest. The recession
City Line Capital is actively seeking to purchase self storage properties nationwide; both on and off-market. WE ARE BUYERS
Acquisitions since 2017
6m rentable sf
80 properties
16 states
rick, phone number, email, website can take out we are buyers if needed match numbers to article
Rick Schontz | 610 664 1496 | rschontz@citylinecapital.com
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