James Schutter joined Newmark’s Chicago office in 2008 as a Senior Managing Director. He has more than 30 years of retail brokerage experience and his primary focus is furthering the Midwest Region’s retail services platform. Mr. Schutter works with a dedicated team of brokers specializing in retail landlord representation, tenant representation, and retail-related brokerage services, focusing on both urban and suburban properties in the Chicago market.
During his career, Mr. Schutter has represented a wide range of retail property owners from the entrepreneurial developer to the institutional owner including; GE Capital, Manulife Financial, Prudential, Marc Realty, Intercontinental Real Estate, Mesa Development, Equity Group Investments, and Fairbourne Properties. He has also completed lease negotiations with a wide variety of retail tenants from a small shop to anchor tenants including Citi Bank, Burlington Coat Factory, Walgreens, Panera Bread Company, Fresh Thyme, Starbucks, AT&T, Chase, McDonald’s, Trader Joe’s, US Cellular, Bed Bath & Beyond, Bank of America, LA Fitness, Michaels, Home Depot, Bob’s Discount Furniture, and Jewel Foods. During his real estate career, he has restructured leases with a variety of tenants including Kmart and Best Buy.
Prior to joining Newmark, Mr. Schutter held the position of Vice President at M & J Wilkow, Ltd., where he was responsible for a retail portfolio that consisted of over 5 million square feet. He was also in charge of retail brokerage services which encompassed tenant representation, leasing, lease restructuring, and land sales. He started his retail brokerage career at CBRE, where he was a Senior Associate, specializing in all aspects of retail brokerage services.
Professional Achievements and Involvements
Mr. Schutter holds the CCIM designation from the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute, is the former president of the Illinois CCIM Chapter, a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, and a licensed real estate broker. He is also 2013, 2014, and 2018 recipient of CoStar’s Power Broker award for retail leasing in the Chicago market.
Education
Mr. Schutter holds an MBA in Real Estate Finance from DePaul University, a BA in Psychology from Western Kentucky University, and a BA in Theater from Columbia College.
Years of Experience
30 Years
Areas of Specialization
- Retail Landlord Representation
- Retail Tenant Representation
- Retail Investment Sales
- Retail Lease Restructuring
- Retail Property Analysis
- Commercial Land Sales
- Ground Leases