The OB Companies were formed in 2002 by Kurt O'Brien from the successful companies he has led since the mid 1980's. Kurt began his business career in the commercial mortgage banking industry, working as a mortgage banker with W. Lyman Case & Company. After successfully closing over $500,000,000 in loans, he became President of the Quorum Corporation where he purchased nearly 2,000 apartment units in the Midwest in 1990. After his successful tenure as President of Quorum, Kurt began building, from scratch, what eventually would become the 18th largest self-storage operation in the United States. Known as The Holding Company, Kurt purchased 43 storage properties containing more than 2,000,000 rentable square feet in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Arizona. After operating The Holding Company for four years, Kurt sold the business to a national self-storage chain, and was a consultant to them for two years before founding the OB Companies.
OB has offices and businesses in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Florida. OB is a diverse company, operating profitably in self storage, commercial real estate, retail and office construction. Our diversity is also shown in our profitable side ventures, which include auto retail, children's day care and consumer products. We partner with some of America's largest companies yet also have an entrepreneurial flavor that allows us to take risks and explore exciting new markets.
Our businesses are driven by knowledge, planning, execution, consistent management, and continued wise investments. What we value is how we get the job done - with honesty, integrity, and solid businesses ethics. We don't sell our company, services, products, etc. with words - we sell them with action. Our employees don't just talk about ethics - we act on them. We have measurable goals for every project and investment we undertake and a rigorous process in place to ensure we meet or exceed those goals.
Some of our partners have been:
GE Capital -GE was originally a partner in OB Companies. OB subsequently purchased GE's ownership and GECC invested $50 million as an acquisition lender.
Simon Property Group -OB has recently entered into a joint venture agreement with SPG to develop self storage properties adjacent to their malls and lifestyle centers. It is expected that OB will build 30 self storage properties within this joint venture. SPG plans to identify a parcel of land at each new development for self storage.
Orlando investor -OB has formed a joint venture with an Orlando area developer to develop self storage nationwide. This joint venture partner has agreed to invest nearly $40 million in equity.
We forge partnerships - investing our time, people, and resources - not only for our benefit, but for our partners as well. Through these partnerships, we're able to leverage the power of a national brand with the inestimable value of local market knowledge, achieving far more for all involved than we could generate individually; truly, one + one does equal three. Each of us has the security of knowing that we are fully invested in the success of our venture.
