Contact Details

Aaron Barnard is an 23 year veteran of the commercial real estate industry. In addition to his proven track record of landlord representation services in the leasing of office/medical and retail properties, he is a strategic advisor to both investment and corporate clients providing real estate solutions at a local and national level.

Mr. Barnard’s practice involves specific areas of expertise including investment analysis, project feasibility, leasing programs, and corporate real estate engagement in a variety of markets. Clients include Colonnade Properties, Ryan, GE, IRET, Kraus Anderson, Cargill, WP Carey, US Bank and Fairfield Financial Services. Mr. Barnard’s practice includes a very strong following of tenant representation clients, including a variety of prominent national tenants. He has been involved in leasing of over 5 million square feet of office/medical and mixed-use product, where he has completed transactions involving more than 3.8 million square feet. Mr. Barnard is widely recognized for his ability to implement innovative leasing, marketing, and strategic planning solutions on behalf of his clients. Tenants such as GE, Wells Fargo, Kimberly Clark, The State of Minnesota, Sears/K-Mart, and Fresenius Biomedical, have all benefited from his expertise. In 2008, Barnard achieved status as one of the “Top 5 Brokers” by Cushman & Wakefield in Minnesota and also received the “Transaction of the Year” award. In 2007, Barnard was recognized as a “Top 10 Office Broker” in The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Barnard was Vice President for Grubb & Ellis|Northco Real Estate Services, where he was responsible for serving a variety of national firms with their retail estate needs. Mr. Barnard joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2007 through the firm’s acquisition of Northstar Partners where he was often tapped for his strategic approach to client development.

Mr. Barnard is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas having earned a B.A. degree in Business Management. Aaron is an active member of numerous professional real estate organizations including the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors and the CCIM Institute, from which he holds the SIOR and CCIM designations, respectively. Additionally, Mr. Barnard served as the 2008 President of the Minnesota/Dakotas CCIM Chapter and on a national strategic planning committee for CCIM. Mr. Barnard presently serves as the SIOR Minnesota Chapter Vice President and  has also graduated from the Jay W. Levine Leadership Development Academy, which is a select group of members chosen to further develop their leadership skills through CCIM. He is also a member of the Minnesota Commercial Association of Realtors (MNCAR), Minnesota Association of Realtors (MAR), National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), and the Minnesota Shopping Center Association (MSCA), for which he is a past chair of the Membership Committee.