Patricia A. Nooney
President
Coldwell Banker Commercial American Spectrum
St. Louis Born, Nationally Renowned
Patricia A. Nooney always knew she’d end up in the family real estate business. Her grandfather, Gregory Nooney, founded Nooney, Inc., developers of Northland Shopping Center and the Pierre Laclede Center among others, in 1945. After her father, Gregory J. Nooney, Jr., took over the reins in the 1960s, Pat Nooney took off for Florida, earning an accounting degree at the University of Miami. She worked in accounting in Florida for several years. “For a while, I wasn’t sure about joining the family company,” she says. “I grew up with it and worked summers and weekends. My grandfather and father said, ‘If you’re interested, we’d certainly love to have you,’ but there was no pressure to return.”
However, she did return to St. Louis and Nooney, Inc. for good in the early ’80s, first in the syndication department, then in property management. Now Nooney is president of Coldwell Banker Commercial American Spectrum, which manages approximately 6.5 million square feet of property in St. Louis and the Midwest, valued at $500 million. The company had a transaction volume of $115 million in 1999.
Nooney’s company employs 100 and offers all aspects of commercial real estate: asset and property management, development and construction management, full-service commercial brokerage, site analysis, tenant/owner representation, investment consulting, valuation and more.
The familiar Nooney name came off the corporate letterhead in October 1997 when the company was acquired by CGS Real Estate Co. of Newport Beach, Calif. Today, CGS, through its subsidiary, American Spectrum, has offices in 20 cities in 13 states.
In September 1999, American Spectrum bought five Coldwell Banker Commercial franchises. “That’s when we became Coldwell Banker Commercial American Spectrum,” Nooney says. “That gave us an opportunity to expand our brokerage, which is small now. Our goal is to have 15 to 18 full-time brokers by mid-2001.”
Was Nooney reluctant to remove the family name from the door? “No, it wasn’t difficult to let it go, in the sense that the whole industry has changed. There’s much more of a need to be part of a national organization now,” she replies. “Although Nooney is very well known in St. Louis, Coldwell Banker is known throughout the entire country.” Nooney says since the change was made last September, the company has received a lot of calls based on the Coldwell Banker name alone.”
Although Nooney doesn’t have much opportunity to work directly with tenants, she still gets involved in a lot of deal negotiations. “Getting tenants in and making sure they’re happy once they’re in, that’s what it’s all about,” she says. “That’s why an owner hires us”—or why Coldwell Banker Commercial American Spectrum purchases real estate. For example, in 1998 Nooney took over the management and leasing of the 20-story, 217,340-square-foot Gateway Tower in downtown St. Louis, where she has a breathtaking view of the riverfront and Gateway Arch. “We’ve had quite a bit of leasing here,” Nooney says. “We renovated all the common areas and now we’re doing the exterior. It’s been an exciting project for us, since it’s such a prominent building downtown, and since we moved our headquarters here after 35 years in Clayton.”
Nooney believes “there’s energy and vibrancy downtown you just don’t get in a suburban location.” She’s glad to see plans for the downtown area moving forward. “Downtown is the image the rest of the world has of St. Louis, so it’s very important for us to have a strong city center.” She believes the convention center hotel is critical to spurring development, as are efforts to attract residents into the city.
Nooney has a lot of opportunities to see how St. Louis measures up to other cities in her travels on behalf of local, regional and national real estate organizations. “When you deal with people from around the country it keeps you on the cutting edge of your industry,” she says. “It’s a time commitment, but it helps personally and professionally. Besides,” she adds, “I can’t just belong to an organization. If I join it, I like to be active in it.”
Currently Nooney is president of the Missouri Growth Association, a trade association of commercial property owners, managers and developers throughout the state. And for the third consecutive year, she’s serving as national senior vice president of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). This year she heads the Legislative Division. In 1998, the St. Louis chapter of IREM honored her as Certified Property Manager of the Year and this year, named her company Management Company of the Year. In 1999, Nooney was named one of St. Louis’ Most Influential Business Women by the St. Louis Business Journal, which also named her a “Heavy Hitter in Commercial Real Estate” in 1998 and 1999. Most recently she was appointed to the RCGA’s Regional Business Council, a group of leaders from medium-size companies who are taking an expanded role in civic affairs.
This involvement also extends to Nooney’s away-from-work life. She plays golf and practices karate, and lately has become active with her husband, personal fitness center owner, Patrick Byrne, in triathlons.
But what Nooney likes best is real estate. “It’s really a people business-dealing with tenants, contractors and architects—and each day is different,” Nooney says. “You may think you have an overall plan for the day, but the first three phone calls change everything.”
