As a senior in high school, Peter Mork was painting houses on Summitt Avenue in Saint Paul when his boss needed help leasing warehouses – he offered to pay for Peter’s real estate license and hoped to put him to work a bit more. Off to the races Peter went.
After working a bit for his painting boss, he took a summer internship opportunity at CBRE (formerly Coldwell Banker Commercial).
“I got my turn at the data bank…it was a job that was a launching pad to being a ‘runner,’ or a broker assistant…I was fortunate enough to work for John Allen and be his runner,” Mork said.
While John Allen is a legendary name in the Commercial Real Estate Industry, Peter took full advantage of his position and was able to get into John’s head, and learn from one of the true legends in the industry.
“I knew day one I wanted to be in Commercial Real Estate, I knew I wanted to own real estate. I knew brokerage was just a conduit of getting a means to an end, and I wanted ownership. That got more emboldened in me working for John and seeing what he accomplished,” Mork said.
Peter is a big believer in education and wanted to go back to school for a law degree. While his dad and brother each had theirs, he believed in the importance of having it. While working as a broker by day, he went to get his MBA in finance by night.
He was then accepted into law school, and while the endeavor was long and grueling, he passed the bar. Peter never practiced law but said going to law school is a serious decision and is a great degree to have under his belt.
“It’s difficult to quantify how much this degree helped me. I read a ton of leases, a lot of purchase agreements, and I’m very confident in knowing what I know, and what I don’t know. And how to use our attorneys to get us through things,” Mork said.
With all the expertise Peter has accumulated, he is now the Founder and Managing Partner of Capital Partners – an industrial real estate company that owns, manages, and develops industrial properties, building development, and property management services - with assets around $1.7 billion.
“I am blessed to have such a wonderful office, wonderful team, wonderful support…It’s great, and fun, and rewarding. I think we’ll continue doing what we’re doing,” Mork said.
Looking back on his career, Peter always knew he’d be a salesman. He started with his pillars – finance, law, good ethics, and hard work – then he knew he could control his destiny.
“I always say the sky is the limit – it just depends on how hard you want to work,” Mork said.
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