Former First Industrial CEO starts industrial investment firm

CHICAGO - Michael W. Brennan, former president and chief executive officer of First Industrial Realty Trust, announced the formation of Brennan Investment Group LLC, a privately-held industrial real estate investment firm.

Brennan Investment Group will acquire, develop and operate industrial properties in select major metropolitan markets throughout the United States. The firm’s managing principals will co-invest with private and institutional capital, pursuing single asset and portfolio acquisitions, including acquisitions of debt.

Brennan Investment Group’s primary target markets span the United States, including Central Florida, Chicago, Northern New Jersey, Southern California, Texas and Washington D.C.

Additionally, the firm will invest on an opportunistic basis in markets it classifies as secondary, including Atlanta, Cincinnati, Columbus, Harrisburg, Indianapolis, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco Bay and St. Louis.

Investments will include bulk and regional warehouses, as well as light industrial. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, with additional offices in Los Angeles, Boston and Cincinnati.

“We established Brennan Investment Group at one of the most opportune periods the industrial real estate market has ever seen,” said Brennan, chairman and managing principal of Brennan Investment Group.

“With no legacy burdens, our firm is well positioned to capitalize on current and future market conditions.”

Prior to forming Brennan Investment Group, Brennan co-founded First Industrial Realty Trust and served as the president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors. Under his direction, the company assisted many of the nation’s largest industrial users in completing complex supply chain reconfigurations and attracted investment partners including The Carlyle Group, the Kuwait Finance House, Union Bank of Switzerland, ING, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.

Joining Brennan as principals at the firm are experienced industrial real estate professionals who have collectively invested in more than 4,000 properties in more than 60 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

The principals of Brennan Investment Group include:

- Peter F. Murphy as co-founder, vice-chairman and managing principal responsible for transactions in the Eastern United States. Murphy joins the company from First Highland Management and Development Corp., where he is a principal and has developed more than 10 msf of industrial assets.

- Kareem M. Fikri as co-founder and managing principal responsible for transactions in the Midwestern United States, with a focus on Chicago. Fikri was founder and president of Fik Investment Corp., a company with approximately 8 msf of office and industrial assets under management in 18 U.S. cities. Fikri is credited with managing the first Sharia compliant industrial fund in the United States, a joint venture between First Industrial and the Kuwait Finance House.

- Robert J. Krueger as co-founder and managing principal responsible for transactions in Central Florida. Krueger joins the company from First Industrial, where he acquired and developed approximately 5 msf of industrial and flex space in the Florida market.

- Britten Shuford as co-founder and managing principal responsible for investments in the Western United States, with a focus on Southern California. Shuford is co-managing partner and principal of Pacifica Capital Group, a Los Angeles based firm that has acquired or developed approximately 15 msf of commercial property.

- Kevin Smith as co-founder and managing principal responsible transactions in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis and Indianapolis. Smith joins the company from First Highland Management and Development Corp., where he is a principal and orchestrated more than $500 million in industrial real estate transactions totaling more than 20 msf.