Brad Toothaker has a competitive streak in him. It dates back to his days as a champion swimmer for the South Bend Riley High School Wildcats in the late 1980s, and later the UCLA Bruins in college.
Toothaker, though, doesn’t make a big deal out of being a part of a state championship swim team or of trying to qualify for the 1988 U.S. Olympic swim team. By any measure, those are notable achievements, but Toothaker, president and CEO of real estate brokerage C.B. Richard Ellis/Bradley in South Bend, prefers to look ahead.
Even though it’s been a rough year for those in the real estate business, Toothaker is optimistic. “Our past quarters definitely show improvement. How sustainable that is it’s hard to say. What’s helped us weather things is the diversity of our business. We’ve brought fixed operating costs down and we outsource many of our services now.”
C.B. Richard Ellis/Bradley has eight offices throughout a dozen counties in Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan. It manages and markets more than 3.5 million square feet of office, industrial, commercial and medical space. Among its services, the company provides brokerage services, real estate consulting services, property management, construction management and lease administration.
Sitting in his second floor office in the Key Bank Building in downtown South Bend, overlooking a small plaza at Jackson and Michigan streets, Toothaker is relaxed. He is fit (he still swims to keep in shape) and thoughtful as he answers questions.
Toothaker admits that much of what he is today was shaped by his father, Bob, a real estate property manager, and his high school swim coach, Dave Dunlap.
“I’ve been competitive all my life,” says Toothaker. “It’s a work ethic and a desire to compete at the highest level that really drives me. It goes back to my swimming days, and what I learned from it translates to business. There is always room to improve. You have to treat all your personnel and your clients as if they’re family.”
While he was in high school, Toothaker’s first job was working for his father’s property management business, doing landscape work— everything from mowing lawns to trimming bushes.
“I grew up in the business. My father started this business in 1978 and that’s the foundation. He managed apartment buildings and business complexes,” says Toothaker.That business, Real Estate Management Corp. became a part of C.B. Richard Ellis/Bradley in 1998. Today, it does all of the real estate management for C.B. Richard Ellis.
The company’s reach goes as far east as Warsaw, as far west as Merrillville, north to St. Joseph, Mich., and south to Logansport. The company has 130 employees, says Toothaker. Toothaker says affiliating with C.B. Richard Ellis in 1998 gave his father’s company a national reach that it didn’t have previously. In addition to having “unparalleled local market knowledge,” the connection with C.B. Richard Ellis offers a “national and international affiliation that provides clients with an informed perspective on all markets, with access to local trends and information,” he says. “The ability to integrate C.B. Richard Ellis’ global array of resources and services affords an unequaled depth and consistency to market data, coverage and expertise, as well as access to funding sources.”
But before Toothaker got the opportunity to grow and shape a company like C.B. Richard Ellis, his first real estate steps were taken thousands of miles from home. After he graduated from UCLA, Toothaker decided to remain in Los Angeles, signing on with Trammel Crow Co. Southern California Inc., one of the nation’s largest real estate development companies. It was an opportunity to sample the vibrant real estate market in Southern California.
He stayed for a couple of years, and then abruptly switched direction with an opportunity he simply couldn’t pass up. Toothaker was single and had the chance to move to Guam as the marketing and sales manager of an import/export company.
He spent a year in the South Pacific, shipping products from Asia to the United States. “It was an opportunity I took because I could,” says Toothaker. But after about a year, the pull of home became too difficult to resist.
“Being that far away, and this business having matured, the timing of events and family ties, I realized it was time for me to come back,” says Toothaker.
So he left Guam and returned to South Bend. When he got back, he jumped into the Michiana real estate market and he hasn’t looked back.
As he has worked his way up the ladder at C.B. Richard Ellis, Toothaker says he realized the importance of surrounding himself with good people. It’s a lesson he learned as a swimmer, where it was vital to have people who were dedicated, people who were willing to work together and people who were willing to sacrifice for the common good in order for the team to be successful.
“We’ve managed to weather the economic storm with a little bit of work and by having good people,” says Toothaker. “The core staff in this company helped weather the difficult times through challenge and change. I can’t say enough about having good people. Their support is earned and deserved, 100 percent. I’m able to sleep well because of them.”
Toothaker says his employees come from across the region. “In our corporate office, half the people who work here are from outside of South Bend,” he says. “They’re from places like LaPorte, Plymouth and Niles, Mich. We have fewer people from South Bend and Mishawaka than people from outside the county.”
That geographic diversity, says Toothaker, is an asset. By having people in the corporate office from across the region, the company can offer an intimate knowledge of the market, helping to quickly get answers for clients.
Toothaker describes himself as “a big picture guy” who determines a direction for the company and then lets his people do what they do best to get there.
“Most understand they can run as far as they feel comfortable, but when it comes to key decisions they want feedback on, we’ll talk,” says Toothaker. “Most people are capable of making decisions on their own.” And Toothaker lets them.
He says he’s not intimidated by surrounding himself with talented people. He smiles and shrugs off the fear of any intimidation that might exist by employing someone younger who is smarter than he is. “I remember standing in the blocks at the Olympic trials, next to Matt Biondi. He’s 6-7 and I’m 5-10. Talk about intimidation,” says Toothaker. All Biondi did was win seven medals in the 1988 Olympics, and a total of 11 medals over three Olympics.
“Look, at some point, somebody else has got to be me and I’m always looking for that. The only threat of hiring good people is the threat ofmaking yourself and the company better,” says Toothaker.
He is confident about the future. “Not too many people could have prepared for what we’re dealing with,” he says. “We’re starting to see some capital come back into the market.”
Still, Toothaker says some potential sales have instead become lease agreements. But that has left plenty of opportunity for others to come in and buy property they might not have considered just a few years ago.
“It really is a matter of growth and achievement,” says Toothaker. “Most businesses need to continue to grow in order to survive and improve. And I think I’ve always been bent on the fact there’s always room to get better and provide a better service. I think it’s treating people and properties as if they’re your own. As long as you do that, good things happen.”
The good things for Toothaker are his wife of 10 years, Katie, and their children, Wyatt, 7, and Stella, 6. They live near Edwardsburg, Mich., on Eagle Lake, which gives him a chance to enjoy the water with his family.
In the community, both Toothaker and C.B. Richard Ellis are involved with several youth, civic and quality-of-life organizations. On the business side, Toothaker says he and the company are involved with Downtown South Bend Inc., an organization that’s dedicated to improving the economic viability of the downtown area. A recent effort has brought more entertainment and nightlife to the downtown, making it a destination for both work and pleasure.
“We’re very involved in the community, as a company and individually,” says Toothaker. “I’m chairman of the United Way, incoming chair of the Chamber of Commerce, involved with South Bend Symphony and the Boys and Girls Club of South Bend. That’s the top of the list for us when it comes to giving money.”
