Sioux City JOURNAL: Veteran Sioux City commercial real estate agent strikes out on his own |
Mary Wilkens, Office Manager
(712) 224-4100 ; mary@salemrealestate.biz
SIOUX CITY — A new Sioux City commercial real estate firm is being led by one of the region’s most seasoned agents.
Dick Salem, who has nearly 50 years of experience in the field, opened Salem Real Estate at 700 Pierce St., Monday.
The 77-year-old has spent the last 16 years as an executive and Realtor with United Real Estate Solutions Inc. and its commercial division, NAI United. Salem decided to strike out on his own after hearing that NAI United was moving from downtown Sioux City to a new office in Dakota Dunes.
“I would have stayed there as long as I could or wanted to but I just didn’t feel like I wanted to move my office and have it out at the Dunes,” he said.
Salem said he did well at United, but views the relocation as an inconvenience for himself and his clients.
Going solo is nothing new for Salem. He left Davenport and Associates — the firm where he got his start in commercial real estate in 1985 — in 2000 to form his own agency, Salem Commercial.
Although it’s no longer in use, United still owns the Salem Commercial name, hence why the septuagenarian named his new firm Salem Real Estate.
Salem will serve as the president/lead agent of the three-person office. Additional staffers include office manager Mary Wilkens and vice president/minor partner Karla Hertz, both of whom have worked with Salem in the past.
Salem Real Estate will focus primarily on commercial, industrial, retail, office properties, commercial land investments and larger multifamily units.
Launching a new business at 77 may seem unusual to some, but Salem enjoys what he does and has no plans on slowing down anytime soon.
“Everybody says, ‘When are you going to retire?’" Salem said. "I say, ‘Well, when the Lord take me home.’”
