Team

Gary Greenfield brings over 30 years of commercial real estate brokerage experience to Metro. Such retail giants as Marshalls, Staples, Best Buy, T.J. Maxx, and Lowe’s Home Improvement are among the retailers he has represented.

As one of Metro’s co-founders and principals, Mr. Greenfield’s background in tenant representation, product leasing, property disposition, and investment sales strengthens the organization’s foundation for servicing a wide array of retail clients.

Gary has received numerous awards for his work throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. He is a 6 time recipient of the Top Retail Leasing Power Broker Award by CoStar.

Steven Baer brings more than 30 years of experience in primarily shopping center leasing and sales, emphasizing both product and tenant representation. He offers extensive experience in market research, site selection, and lease negotiation.

He has represented such clients as; Starbucks Coffee, Pier 1 Imports, Staples, LYFE Kitchen, Sam’s Wine & Liquor, Skechers, T.J. Maxx, California Pizza Kitchen, Luxottica, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, and LensCrafters.

Steven is a 7 time recipient of the Top Retail Leasing Power Broker Award by CoStar. He was also awarded the 2003 Excellence Award from Starbucks for Outstanding Brokerage Work and the Commercial Forum Broker of the Year award for both tenant and product representation.

Robert Melsher has built a distinguished real estate career and is nationally recognized as a go to retail tenant broker. Over the past 25 years, Melsher has represented and played a pivotal role in major market entries for top tier retailers such as; Planet Fitness, Staples, Burlington, Visionworks, Value City Furniture, Rally House, Topgolf and CVS Pharmacy among many others.

Mr. Melsher has facilitated hundreds of transactions throughout Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York for his clients and has represented a myriad of national and local Landlords such as; Visconsi Companies Ltd, Forest City Enterprises, The Zaremba Group, Chody Development, Pacific Star Capital and Gillespie Group.

Robert has also provided extensive advisory services and executed multi-property disposition assignments on behalf of financial institutions such as Bank of America and Bank Of New York Mellon.

He has spoken at various retail conferences and is a 7 time recipient of the Top Retail Leasing Power Broker Award by CoStar for years 2015 through 2021.

Nathan Tonnies has more than 15 years of experience in retail real estate. He spent 2010-2012 leading the leasing and management team for a portfolio of 32 shopping centers comprised of more than 4 million square feet spanning 9 states.

Nathan has extensive experience in land assemblage, excess property disposition and all aspects of retail real estate sales and leasing. He was most recently awarded as a Top Retail Leasing Power Broker by CoStar in 2016.

In previous years with Metro, Mr. Tonnies represented Starbucks Coffee in central Illinois, completing more than 30 transactions in a three year period and handled similar assignments for other national retailers.

Mr. Tonnies is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Jonathan Hyman has more than 15 years of sales experience, both in and out of the real estate industry. Jonathan joined Metro Commercial Real Estate in 2012 and specializes in Product and Tenant representation throughout the City of Chicago, suburban and downstate markets.

Mr. Hyman has extensive experience in planning, coordinating and executing market expansion for retailers and restaurants. He currently represents national and regional Tenants including TJX Companies, Famous Footwear, Ampler Development (Taco Bell), Francesca’s Restaurant Group, Oportun and Colectivo Coffee.

In 2018, Jonathan Hyman opened a city based office of Metro Commercial Real Estate. Hyman has grown the Urban based team and built a foundation of Product and Tenant representation within the Urban Market.

Jonathan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, is a licensed Real Estate Broker and is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). He is a 4 time recipient for the Top Retail Leasing Power Broker Award by CoStar Group; 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2017.

Sharon Bar-Shalom joined Metro Commercial Real Estate in 2017 with the desire to help small businesses strategically grow their brick-and-mortar presence. Armed with 5 years of experience operating her own entrepreneurial ventures, Sharon contributes an out-of-the-box perspective on market trends and the deal-making process. She quickly developed an understanding of commercial real estate and was promoted to Vice President in 2022.

She is honored to be partnered with notable brokers representing TOCA in Midwest business acquisitions, Bridgestone Firestone, Cricket Wireless, My Salon Suite, Rainbow and Visionworks. Independently she represents Poke Bros in their rapid expansion in the Chicagoland area.

Ms. Bar-Shalom earned two Bachelor’s degrees, in Biology and Psychology, from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Hannah Perl joined Metro Commercial Real Estate as an Associate Broker in July of 2019. Based at our city office and under the leadership of Jonathan Hyman & Reuben Rischall, Hannah’s focus is on product leasing, sales and tenant representation.

Prior to joining Metro, Hannah was an Intern with Millennium Properties R/E where she researched zoning and regulations, compiled comparable reports, market trends and prospective tenants/landlords for Opinion of Value reports. She, also, qualified and targeted prospective buyers and owners for business development purposes.

Ms. Perl is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds degrees in Political Science and Business. She is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Charlie Elias is an Associate Broker with Metro Commercial Real Estate focused on product leasing, sales and tenant representation. Charlie joined Metro in 2019 and prior to his role as an Associate Broker, he was a Marketing Specialist with Metro where he was focused on GIS-related assignments, market research and social media.

Previous to his employment with Metro, Charlie worked for the Chicago Sky in the PR and Communications department where he marketed players and coaching staff through social media, conducted press conferences and created detailed statistic packets and game notes for the team and media.

Mr. Elias is a graduate of Indiana University holding a Bachelor’s degree in Communications with a focus in Business. He is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Deborah Metzner has more than 20 years of experience in office administration, finance & accounting, and customer service.

She plays an integral role in keeping the office up-to-speed and on budget. Having been with Metro since its inception, she is a key player in all office functions

Rose Sperry is our newest addition to the team, she recently joined us as our marketing specialist. Her background is in graphic design where she has held numerous internships including the local Highwood Chamber of Commerce and nonprofit Bounce Children’s Foundation. She is proficient in Adobe Creative Suites, with a focus in InDesign and Illustrator.

Prior to joining Metro, Rose attended Lake Forest College and holds degrees in both Communication and Digital Media Design with a minor in Computer Science.