Twenty-one years of buying, fixing and leasing the buildings other people overlook.
Commercial Investors Group is a vertically integrated real estate investment firm founded in 2005 by Mike Sowers, CCIM, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Brokerage, construction, property management, maintenance, title and a fund, all under one roof, all in one market.
Leadership team.
Every seat on the leadership team carries a weekly scorecard number. They are supported by a leasing agent, a tenant service coordinator, a maintenance coordinator, field technicians, a bookkeeper and a fractional CPA controller.
Mike Sowers, CCIM
Founded CIG in 2005 and has been involved in more than $200M of commercial real estate transactions as principal, broker and asset manager. Author of the Amazon bestseller Commercial Real Estate Investing, host of the CREative Commercial Real Estate Show, Carlson School of Management graduate. Personally underwrites every acquisition.
AJ Petersen
Runs property operations across all 30 buildings: budgets, collections, renewals, tenant service and the maintenance organization. Leads the transition of every acquisition from closing to stabilized operations.
Forrest Kalk
Directs leasing and renewals across one million square feet, from listing and 3D tours through negotiation and move-in. Sets the spec-suite program that lets CIG lease small suites quickly.
Mark Sowers
Leads CIG's in-house construction and renovation crews: scope, schedule, subcontractors and daily Buildertrend logs on every capital project and suite build-out.
Amy Martin
Supports acquisitions, investor relations and 721 contributions from first conversation through closing.
How we got here.
| 2005 | CIG founded. Mike begins renovating and holding real estate in the Twin Cities. |
| 2017 | Executive Remodeling sold; full focus on commercial. |
| 2018 | First multi-tenant assets: Loretto industrial and Sibley Lofts in Saint Paul. |
| 2020 | Commercial Real Estate Investing published; Amazon bestseller. |
| 2021 | AlphaDiv Real Estate Fund formed. |
| 2022 | First fund tranche: four assets, $22.6M. |
| 2024 | First 721 tranche adds six buildings from outside owners. Headquarters purchased at 7825 Washington. |
| 2026 | Approximately $100M AUM, 30 buildings, 1 million SF, 17 buildings contributed through 721 exchanges. |
CIG Holdings LLC, doing business as Northstar Growth Companies, is the parent of Commercial Investors Group and Velora Title and the Managing Member of AlphaDiv Real Estate Fund. The team operates on the Entrepreneurial Operating System with weekly scorecards, quarterly rocks and an annual plan.
Come see the buildings.
Our office is inside one of them. 7825 Washington Avenue South, Suite 700, Bloomington.