Hall of Fame Recipient, Gene Stunard, MAI, is a Partner in Appraisal Research Counselors®, which he co-founded in 1968 with his wife, Joan Stunard. Appraisal Research Counselors® is one of the largest commercial counseling firms, headquartered in Chicago, dealing with investment grade property and a neighborhood firm appraising commercial, multi-family and single-family properties for local, regional and national clients.  Gene was a Regional Appraiser for the Prudential Insurance Company of America and a Partner of Real Estate Appraisal Corporation and Land Economics Research Corporation, Oak Brook.

In addition to being active on a national scale with office, retail, hotel, nursing homes and industrial properties, Appraisal Research Counselors® was a major participant in the early development of the Chicago residential condominium market through pioneering appraisal, research and counseling for conversions, adaptive reuse and new construction product. The quarterly Benchmark publications have had a significant impact on real estate development in Chicago by providing meaningful research and counseling regarding the downtown and suburban apartment  and condominium markets.

Gene has dedicated over a half century of service to the real estate appraisal, research and counseling community. Starting in 1954 at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana with the first real estate appraisal course offered by Professor Robert Otto Harvey, Gene graduated with the first class with a B.S. Degree in Urban Land Economics. Gene continued his service to real estate education by teaching for Triton College, the Society of Real Estate Appraisers and the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers. Gene also continuously served the real estate industry through his activities with the Chicago Association of REALTORS®, the Society of Real Estate Appraisers, the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and Lambda Alpha International, an honorary land economics society. The London Chapter of Lambda Alpha was created while Gene served two years as International President.

In addition to numerous other honors and awards, Gene served on advisory boards for Triton College and John Marshall Law School as well as being on the Board of Directors for the Harbor Point Condominiums and a member of the Oak Park Plan Commission.

Chicago Association of REALTORS® HALL OF FAME Recipients include nationally recognized corporate founders such as Arthur Rubloff (1990) and Sam Zell (1999).  The full list of recipients is available here...

Email
Tel: 312-565-3420

On the senior care side, Jim has worked throughout the Midwest with operators such as the Alden Group, Care Centers and Sunrise Assisted Living.  Mr. Kutill’s office property experience includes a range of CBD (AT&T Center, Illinois Center and 10 & 30 South Wacker in Chicago) and suburban buildings.  For retail, he has been involved with regional malls, community centers and net leased free-standing-retail buildings (Walgreen’s, Blockbuster, et al) throughout the United States.  Jim also has experience in review appraisal.

Gail is Co-Author of The Residential Benchmark Report published by Appraisal Research Counselors and The Suburban Chicago Apartment and Condo Conversion Benchmark Report.  She is a frequent speaker at the Chicago Real Estate Council as well as real estate development firms.  The Benchmark Reports delineate current trends and forecasts for the multi-family and condominium markets in downtown Chicago and the suburbs.

Ron is Co-Author of The Residential Benchmark Report published by Appraisal Research Counselors and The Suburban Chicago Apartment and Condo Conversion Benchmark Report. The Benchmark Reports delineate current trends and forecasts for the multi-family and condominium markets in downtown Chicago and the suburbs. Mr. DeVries is a frequent speaker at the Chicago Real Estate Council, the Chicagoland Apartment Association as well as real estate development firms and financial institutions.

Mr. De Vries has substantial experience in multi-family housing including market studies for proposed developments and appraisals for financing through banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, life companies and annual reporting for pension funds. He also has experience with low-income housing tax credit deals throughout the state of Illinois and project based Section 8 housing. He has worked with Community Investment Corporation as well as the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) on a number of Mark-to-Market debt restructures and is familiar with the valuation of bond financing. Ron managed the O’Hare Modernization Project (FAA land acquisition) for the firm and has testified as an expert witness in condemnation, bankruptcy and partnership dissolution matters.

Mr. De Vries is a past President of the Chicago Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and the 2009 Chair of Education. On the national level, he serves on the Board of Directors, the Audit Committee, the Education Trust and is Chair of the Education Strategy Panel. Ron has served on several course development teams including Principles, Procedures, Residential Market Analysis & Highest and Best Use as well as two Income Capitalization courses. Mr. DeVries was also a content contributor for The Appraisal of Real Estate, 13th Edition, published by The Appraisal Institute. He is a frequent instructor for a variety of courses both locally and across the US. He is an adjunct professor for De Paul University, having written (and currently instructing) a commercial property valuation course.

Ron developed a course in commercial real estate valuation for the Office the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) which he has presented to OCC bank examiners at numerous locations across the United States.

Mr. De Vries received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Western Illinois University. He holds both the MAI and SRA designations from the Appraisal Institute.

Development assignments include transfer of the O'Hare military base to the City of Chicago, Lakeshore East at Illinois Center, River East and USX's Chicago Lakefront facility. Special purpose assignments include corporate headquarters (Sentry, Wausau, Zenith, Waste Mgmt. et al), television studios (Harpo, Essanay et al), industrial redevelopments (AT&T, Libby's, et al), hospitals (Cabrini, Chicago Orthopedic, et al), CHA and low income housing (Hilliard, ABLA, Madden Park et al), various universities, contaminated properties and analyzing the digital antenna investment market.

Bill has also managed mass appraisal revaluation assignments in Marion County, IN (250,000 parcels), Franklin Township, NY (10,600 parcels) and other locations around the US while employed with the J.M. Cleminshaw Company (1976-1980) and the Washington Township Assessor's office (1980-1984).

Mr. Miller is our leading high-tech expert, including the use of Geographic Information Software (GIS), used to standardize, geocode and data-mine real estate databases such as the 2000 Census, MLSNI, CoStar, LoopNet and various tax assessment jurisdictions.

Bill has written articles and papers for the Urban Land Institute, the Chicago Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association, National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries, Illinois Real Estate Journal and Northern Illinois Real Estate Magazine.

Mr. Cooper’s core competencies include numerous assignments involving age-restricted housing, assisted living and nursing home facilities throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri.  His experience includes a broad range of operations ranging from private pay to Medicaid/Medicare facilities for projects operating successfully as well as work out deals.  He is very familiar the HUD MAP program including the extensive supporting forms required in the documentation process as well as FNMA.  Additionally, Mr. Cooper has completed numerous market studies required for the HUD submission packages.

Mr. Cooper received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Real Estate and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He has completed a number of courses through the Appraisal Institute and is an Associate Member.

In 1997 Steve accepted the position of Acquisitions Associate with Equity Office Properties Trust, a REIT that went public in that same year. In this roll he directed the group responsible for due diligence process and acquisition underwriting on all office and parking garage acquisitions in the Eastern Region of the country. Some of the major acquisitions included Park Avenue Tower and Worldwide Plaza in New York, One Beacon Place in Boston, and a portfolio of seven office properties in Philadelphia. During this stint, Steve’s division was responsible for the due diligence and closings for acquisitions of over $2 Billion in institutional office properties for the REIT.

Steve rejoined Appraisal Research Counselors in 1999 after leaving Equity Office Properties Trust. Steve’s valuation specialties include expertise in institutional real estate with an emphasis in office and retail properties. Valuation analysis has been completed on numerous large scale office properties in the Chicago region (Sears Tower, 980 North Michigan Avenue, 30 North LaSalle, Schaumburg Corporate Center, O’Hare Gateway Center, among others) and on a national basis (New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, etc.). Retail experienced includes regional malls (Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, IL and Monmouth Mall in New Jersey), community retail shopping centers, neighborhood centers, NNN-leased freestanding retail, and others.

In addition to the focus on office and retail properties, extensive experience has been obtained in the analysis of industrial, multi-family (rental and condominium), hotel, and development sites in Chicago and throughout the United States. He has extensive experience with equity investment analysis, feasibility studies, market studies and highest and best use analysis. Steve has qualified as an expert witness.

Mr. Kelley received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Real Estate from Florida State University. He holds the MAI designation of the Appraisal Institute and has served on the Chicago Chapter Admissions Committee. Steve is also a member of the Chicago Real Estate Council.

Mr. Haraus’ valuation specialties include expertise in single-family residential properties, condominiums and cooperatives as well as 2-4 unit apartment buildings. He has completed numerous review assignments for financial institutions as well as construction payout inspections. Mr. Haraus is responsible for quality control and review for all of the Single Family appraisers at the firm and oversees electronic integration of reports – providing fully electronic documents, PDF files or hard copies based on client needs.

Mr. Haraus received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from De Paul University. He holds the SRA designation of the Appraisal Institute.

Ms. Marquez received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture and Economics from the University of the Phillipines and she is an Associate Member of the Appraisal Institute.

He has worked with a variety of clients ranging from banks (neighborhood to regional) to law firms such as Earl L. Neal & Associates for condemnation cases. 

Mr. Dvorak received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Financial Planning from Purdue University, West Lafayette.  
Additionally, he has completed a number of courses through the Appraisal Institute.

Ms. Schmidt has focused on neighborhood commercial properties ranging from multi family and mixed-use buildings to owner occupied and income producing industrial properties.  She has been involved with numerous condominium conversion projects involving hundreds of units in neighborhoods including Albany Park, Rogers Park, Lakeview, Lincoln Park and the south side neighborhoods of Grand Boulevard, Kenwood and Hyde Park.

Ms. Schmidt received her undergrad degree from Indiana University and her MBA from the University of Chicago.  She has completed a number of courses through the Appraisal Institute.

Mike has significant experience in the market valuation and appraisal of investment-grade commercial real estate properties located throughout the United States.  Clients include institutional and private investors, national and multi-national lenders, and the United States federal government.  Assets appraised included office, apartment, industrial, retail and special use properties. 

Mr. Wingader has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Lawrence University.  He has completed a number of courses through the Appraisal Institute.

Helen’s background includes the market valuation and appraisal of industrial and special purpose properties (Fort Sheridan, Oprah Winfrey’s Studio and the TCF Bank market feasibility study, et al), multi-family apartment buildings and commercial grade properties throughout the Chicago area.  Ms. Gee currently has an emphasis on neighborhood commercial properties in the city and suburbs.  She has worked with a broad range of clients including pension funds, regional banks and local lenders.

Ms. Gee received her Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana and her Master of Business Administration from DePaul University.  Ms. Gee has completed a number of courses offered by the Appraisal Institute.

Gary J. Wager joined Appraisal Research in 2002 and was called up for active duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2003.  We are pleased Gary has since returned to the States and is back with the firm.  Gary has been appraising real estate since the mid 1980s working for firms such as American Appraisal, Muriello-Meyer and Peterson Appraisal. 

Mr. Wager’s background includes retail, office and industrial properties as well as multi-family developments.  His primary focus is neighborhood commercial properties throughout the city and suburbs of Chicago.

Gary received his MBA from DePaul University and he has completed all the courses toward the MAI designation and is an Associate Member of the Appraisal Institute.

Denise Navetta joined Appraisal Research Counselors in 2005.  She began her career with CBIZ Valuation Group (formerly Valuation Counselors) and later joined the Chicago office of American Appraisal Associates.  Denise has worked on valuation assignments across the United States for a wide range of clients including financial institutions, corporations and attorneys.  Ms. Navetta has extensive experience with special use and large corporate properties being appraised for financial reporting purposes in addition to multi-family developments.  She has also worked on numerous health care related properties including nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals.

Ms. Navetta received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance / Real Estate from Indiana University Kelley School of Business.  She is an Associate Member of the Appraisal Institute.

Mr. Bailey received his Business degree from Western International University   He has completed numerous courses and seminars through the Appraisal Institute.

Mr. Brenner received his Bachelors degree from Illinois State University.

Ms. Beller received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication as well as her MA from the University of Illinois at Chicago.  She has completed all of the educational requirements for the MAI designation through the Appraisal Institute and has successfully passed the Comprehensive Examination.

Ms. Franklin received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from the University of Illinois.  She is an Associate member of the Appraisal Institute.

Ms. Maher has extensive experience with neighborhood properties throughout Chicago and in particular, neighborhood multi-family and mixed use properties. Ms. Maher received her MBA from DePaul University. She has completed numerous courses through the Appraisal Institute.

Mr. Dooman received his Accounting and Finance degrees from DePaul University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst candidate.

She then worked for Horwath Consulting in Paris, where she completed hotel feasibility and valuation studies with all property types and brand segments, including limited-service hotels, large upscale properties, and master-planned mixed-use luxury developments. Some of her publications include the Horwath Annual Report on the French Hotel Industry, analyzing and benchmarking operating and financial ratios and statistics.

Anne moved to the United States in 2003, and worked for Blazejack & Co as a hotel specialist while gaining a diversified background in the valuation of a wide range of institutional properties including retail, office, industrial and mixed-use properties in Miami, New York, and Chicago.

Ms. Gompel received her undergraduate degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and Maitrise de Droit International Public, Universite de Caen, France. She earned her MBA in International Hospitality Management from Cornell University and ESSEC Business School.