Roger “Biff” Ruttenberg
Principal
Direct Dial: (312) 516-5702
Fax: (312) 516-5710
E-mail: biff@atlaspartners.com
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Education, Certification & Licensure:
Northwestern University, MBA
University of Pennsylvania, BA
International Council of Shopping Centers (SCSM, SCLS)
Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP)
Licensed Real Estate Broker: IL, IN, MO
Licensed Auctioneer: IL, IN, MA
Areas of Experience:
Bankruptcy and Restructuring
Retail Development, Management and Leasing
Financial Restructuring/Lending – Commercial and Industrial
Roger “Biff” Ruttenberg has 39 years of retail development, redevelopment, management, and leasing experience. His real estate background, including mortgage banking and construction experience, has contributed to Mr. Ruttenberg’s years of successful business projects and relationships.
Atlas Partners is a real estate services firm focusing on consulting to asset-based lenders, institutions and other users of commercial space. It specializes in workouts, turnarounds, dispositions, and maximizing the value of difficult properties.
Prior to co-founding Atlas Partners, Mr. Ruttenberg was Senior Vice President and head of the retail group at Frain Camins & Swartchild•ONCOR International. There he oversaw a leasing and management portfolio of approximately two million square feet and as well as the group’s leasing activities representing numerous national retailers.
Prior to joining FC&S in 1991, Mr. Ruttenberg founded Lakewest Equity, Inc. in 1978, a Chicago-based shopping center development firm. The firm was responsible for over 2.2 million square feet of retail development projects, 195,000 square feet of industrial space, and 74,000 square feet of office space with a total value in excess of $115 million. In 1990, Lakewest Equity, Inc. ceased active development.
Mr. Ruttenberg has written numerous articles. He has also been a panelist/lecturer for Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the American Bar Association, Distressed Debt Panel, The Robert Morris Association of Chicago, and the International Council of Shopping Centers, as well as numerous trade associations and related panels. Designated CSCM (Certified Shopping Center Manager) by the ICSC in 1983, charter Senior CSCM in 1994, charter CLS (Certified Leasing Specialist) in 1994, and charter Senior CLS in 2007; one of only approximately 100 people holding SCSM and SCLS designations. In December of 2000, Mr. Ruttenberg obtained the CTP (Certified Turnaround Professional) designation. The 7,700-member Turnaround Management Association (“TMA”) has granted this designation to approximately 400 people nationwide, of which only two are real estate specialists. Mr. Ruttenberg is a former board member of the Chicago TMA chapter and a former member of the International TMA Board of Directors and its Executive committee, a board member of the Chicagoland Association of Shopping Center Owners, a former member of The Economic Club of Chicago, a current member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, Commercial Finance Association, and of The Executives' Club of Chicago where he was co-chair of its Real Estate Committee.