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Fresh out of college in 1972, Robert Meers worked as an assistant project manager for Urban Investment & Development Corp., drawing up plans for Fox Valley Center in Aurora.
After founding his own firm two years later, he landed a joint venture contract from the city of Aurora, which was desperately trying to revive downtown commerce that the Fox Valley shopping mall had devastated.
Playing both sides of the street isn't difficult for Mr. Meers. As president of Broadacre Management Co., he has spent the last 15 years steering his firm along a charmed, eclectic course.
Starting out as an apartment building manager, Broadacre shifted to rehabilitation of historic Loop buildings and then went high profile with its risky redevelopment of Chicago's North Pier terminal.
Its latest challenge: serving as consultant on restoration of La Salle Street's century-old landmark, the Rookery building.
"We're good at adaptive reuse," is the way the 38-year-old Mr. Meers phrases it. "I think you have to be somewhat opportunistic. In this business, every building is unique.
"The problem is, as I see it, you can have expertise in some areas, but that doesn't always mean that opportunities are going to constantly avail themselves in those areas."
By forgoing an overarching strategic plan, Broadacre has hopscotched its way to $400 million in assets under management, up from just $20 million as recently as 1984. Mr. Meers can modestly point out that $400 million is no bigger than the value of a single building-JMB Realty Corp.'s 900 N. Michigan project, for example.
But it's big enough to compete for crucial joint venture partners among pension-fund managers and other institutional financing sources, now that tax law changes have diminished the supply of private equity for real estate projects.
Mr. Meers, a Chicago native who grew up in Lake Forest,...