The Daron and Ron Barness Family Foundation donated $1 million to the Children’s Museum of Phoenix in 2006.
Ron Barness has been targeted in a number of civil lawsuits that were originally filed against him as principal and CEO of Barness Papas Investments (the parent company of Retail Brokers, Inc.).
All but one of the investor lawsuits has been successfully dismissed by the Maricopa County Superior Court. The single outstanding investor lawsuit is working its way through the legal system and will likely be dismissed soon. Those lawsuits were filed by a handful of investors who alleged that Ron and his partner did not accurately report earnings and the sales of property.
After all investor lawsuits are dismissed against Ron Barness, former owner of Retail Brokers, Inc., is forced to start over in the retail market
PHOENIX – (July 15, 2010) – Retail Property Management, LLC, a new property management company for commercial retail spaces has recently opened in Phoenix by former owner of Retail Brokers, Inc. (RBI), Ron Barness.
Retail Property Management, LLC currently manages three shopping centers in the Phoenix metro area, and is owned and run single handedly by Barness.
Barness, former principal of commercial real estate companies, Retail Brokers, Inc. and Barness Papas Investments, was the target in a handful of investor and lender lawsuits that were filed when the Phoenix real estate market took a turn for the worse. All but one of the investor lawsuits have been dismissed in Maricopa County Superior Court; the last remaining investor complaint is anticipated to be dismissed as it finishes working its way through the court system.
The three shopping centers that Barness is currently managing under Retail Property Management, LLC are owned by investors who worked with Barness previously at RBI and who have stood by his side throughout the lawsuits.
“It has been a devastating ride that has taken everything I have made for myself out from under me and my family, but more than 99% of the investors I have worked with over the years have stood by my side, believing that I have done the best I could do,” said Barness.
Barness is currently focusing his efforts for the new company only in Arizona.
Real Estate Power Player, Ron Barness, Talks About the Dismissed Investor Lawsuits
The real estate market crash has devastated many around the U.S., especially in Phoenix, where prices had been drastically inflated until the real estate bubble exploded a few years ago. For Ron Barness, one of the biggest players in the Phoenix commercial real estate market, the crash meant losing everything.
In 2008 & 2009, a number of civil lawsuits were filed against Ron Barness, principal and CEO of Barness Papas Investments (the parent company of Retail Brokers, Inc.) and his business partner at the time, Alex Papakyriakou. Those judgments were filed by a handful of investors who alleged that Ron and his partner did not accurately report earnings and the sales of property. At the time of this report, all but one of the investor lawsuits has been successfully dismissed by the Maricopa County Superior Court. The single outstanding investor lawsuit is working its way through the legal system and will likely be dismissed soon.
Any other outstanding lawsuits against Ron Barness are from lenders related to the personal guarantees that he made on his real estate investments. Barness says he is working diligently to clear his name of the suits, which came about after those few investors lost money in other real estate transactions and were hoping to take advantage of the legal system in a down market.
Barness’ 27-year real estate career includes acquisition, development and disposition of more than 300 shopping center investment properties, almost all of which included the involvement of nearly 1,000 individual investors or partners. Until the collapse of the Phoenix real estate market in 2007, not a single investor had ever lost a dollar with Barness. In fact, for nearly 15 years, investors enjoyed returns ranging from 15% – 30% every year.
When the market did begin to take a turn for the worse, all of Barness’ projects were negatively affected; each property suffered extreme vacancies that impacted cash flow. In an effort to protect each investor’s monies and to salvage his huge investment portfolio, Barness began to inject his family’s personal savings into the suffering projects.
“The sheer magnitude of the market collapse and the size of the portfolio I controlled ultimately led to the demise of my business and the loss of the projects,” said Barness.
Each of Barness’ projects were financed through a total of 27 different lenders, and most of the transactions were personally guaranteed by Barness and his wife, a testament to how deeply he believed in each deal. No investor ever had personal liability for any of Barness’ real estate loans.
“It has been a devastating ride that has taken everything I have made for myself out from under me and my family, but more than 99% of the investors I have worked with over the years have stood by my side, believing that I have done the best I could do,” said Barness. “Although I have been forced to start over, I am fortunate that I have a wonderful family who believes in me and gives me strength. And, I know that whatever any individual investor lost through investing with me pales in comparison with what I have lost trying to protect their investment.”
Barness is now working hard to re-establish his career by turning the hard truths of what happened in the real estate market into valuable lessons that make him a much more cautious operator.
Arizona Economic Outlook 2007
Featuring Ron Barness, principal of Barness Papas Investments & Retail Brokers, Inc. (RBI)
Elliott Pollack said that the Valley is expected to create 80,000 jobs in 2006, and 60,000 in 2007. As many as 130,000 people will move to metropolitan Phoenix this year.
On housing, the article quotes RL Brown as saying “I thought we would have seen the housing market stabilize by now. Now home builders have a surplus and no lines at their sales offices. Reality set in for them a month ago.”
On commercial, it quotes Pete Bolton of CB Richard Ellis as saying “We need more industrial space. Until we get it, the Valley will lose more jobs as companies go where there’s space.”
More than 8 million square feet of warehouse space is under construction in metro Phoenix. About 3 million square feet of office space will go up in the Valley this year.
On the retail end, Ron Barness of Retail Brokers, Inc. stated that “it wasn’t long ago that high-end East Coast retailers weren’t interested in Phoenix. The opposite is true now.”
The Valley retail vacancy rate is 5 percent, lower than it’s ever been. Currently, 6.6 million square feet of retail space is under construction in the Valley.
