Daus to manage properties following Omni split

The parting of ways between real estate partners Victor Cohn and Pat Finley has entered another stage, with NAI Alan R. Daus benefiting in the process.

Mr. Cohn has selected the Daus firm to manage five office complexes that total 150,000 square feet. The properties are among the assets Mr. Cohn has owned separately from Mr. Finley but which were managed by Omni Cos., a real estate development and management company in which Messrs. Cohn and Finley were partners. That entity is dissolving.

While he is the uncle of Daus president Jeff Kahn, Mr. Cohn said the family tie didn't play a big role in the selection. Mr. Cohn said he considers Daus the best brokerage 'on the street.' The street he was referring to is Chagrin Boulevard, which from Shaker Heights to Pepper Pike houses a bevy of real estate brokerage and development concerns, includes Omni's current headquarters in Pepper Pike.

One key reason for the parting of Messrs. Cohn and Finley, which both men insist is amicable, is that Mr. Finley plans to move staff and assets he controls to a to-be-built headquarters in Medina Township. Mr. Cohn wants to keep his office in the eastern suburbs. As part of the agreement with Daus, the 72-year-old Mr. Cohn will have an office with one staff person at Daus' office in tony Enterprise Place in Beachwood.

For Daus, adding Mr. Cohn's five properties solidifies a move to transform itself from an industrial real estate boutique to a full-service brokerage.

Robert Brehmer, Daus managing principal, said the brokerage is recruiting two agents focused on the office market — one to work as a property leasing representative and another as a tenant representative.

Daus' 22 agents already do a substantial amount of office brokerage as an adjunct to their industrial practices, and the Omni properties means they will do more, Mr. Brehmer said. Daus last year added a unit focused on brokering retail property.

While working at Omni for years, Mr. Finley also participated on a part-time basis in Pride One, a real estate development concern that college friends and partners Doug Leohr and Jerry Fiume operated on a full-time basis. Mr. Finley in July combined the Omni ventures he controlled with Pride One to form Pride One Omni, which plans to focus largely on residential development but which also will pursue commercial projects.