Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame: NAI Farbman’s Doug Fura

Every year the Midwest Real Estate News inducts a new class into its Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. Last year was no exception. Today we look to the busy career of one of these new employees, Doug Fura, senior vice president for the Southfield, Michigan office of the NAI Farbman / Farbman Group.

Douglas Fura has been specializing in the greater Detroit area industrial sales and leasing market since 1982 and has conducted a wide variety of transactions, from the typical sales and leasing of manufacturing and warehouse buildings, to complicated build-to-suit transactions, to the remediation of polluted properties .

Fura has been in the commercial real estate space for nearly four decades, especially in the commercial space. He spent more than half of this career at NAI Farbman / Farbman Group.

“I could easily spend all of my time in commercial real estate, so finding balance has been the biggest challenge of my entire career,” said Fura. “One of my first bosses in the industry told me that true success only comes when you properly balance belief, family, and work in that order. As a workaholic with young children, I’ve taken this advice to heart and have been reevaluating my priorities accordingly. “

In addition to national and international clients such as Prudential Life, Pepsi Cola Company, International Paper, US Postal Service, ABN AMRO and IBM, Fura has successfully done business with hundreds of local investors, developers and companies.

“I really enjoy learning what my customers do and how they do it,” said Fura. “Whether a stamping company, a robot manufacturer or a logistics company, the more I learn about a company or an industry, the more value I can offer similar organizations in future business.”

According to Fura, no matter what the market, commercial property thriving is only possible by cultivating relationships, putting customers first and working with integrity.

“While you get kicked in the teeth every now and then when you put your customers’ interests first, your own interests will ultimately be satisfied,” said Fura.

Furthermore, Fura’s success is in large part due to sticking to the same commercial real estate specialty – industry – throughout his career.

“You don’t want a foot surgeon to operate on your brain, and that specialization of knowledge applies to this business too,” said Fura. “As your career progresses, you can expand across geographic boundaries and focus on larger, more specific projects across the country.”