William Small

William Small brings over 35 years of experience in all aspects of commercial real estate to Zenith Realty Advisors. He’s provided commercial real estate investment consulting and advisory services to major US and foreign corporations and institutions.

Primary Areas Served

Aspen/Snowmass

Responsibilities

As founder and CEO of Zenith Investment Group, LLC William Small is responsible for leading the research and development of investment strategies to achieve the goals of investors. Zenith Investment Group, LLC is an investment company that advises investors and invests in commercial real estate through its subsidiary Zenith Realty Advisors, LLC. The goal at Zenith Investment Group and Zenith Realty Advisors is to find quality investments for investors that will grow wealth over the long term without exposing investors to extraordinary risks they often face when investing in real estate.

Professional Background

William Small began his real estate career as a Political Affairs Director and Political Affairs Legal Counsel for the National Association of Realtors in Washington DC, where he directed political and government programs for the nation’s largest and most politically active national trade association. Later, he entered the investment real estate industry and quickly emerged as one of the top commercial brokers in the Washington DC area receiving several awards for overall volume and size of transactions.

During his career in Washington, DC, William Small represented major national and international developers and institutional investors in the purchase and sale of development sites and office buildings in downtown Washington DC, a 100-million square-foot office market.

During the mid-1990’s, William formed Rubicon Partners, a commercial real estate consulting firm that specialized in advising major purchasers of RTC and FDIC non-performing loan pools during the commercial credit crisis. Clients included the J.E. Robert Companies, the Whitehall Fund (a joint venture between Goldman Sachs and the J.E. Robert Companies), Fleet Management and Recovery Corporation and other major investors in the commercial real estate recovery field. Rubicon analyzed asset values and assisted clients in bidding strategies for over $2 billion in non-performing commercial real estate assets.

In the mid-1990s, William Small joined Denver-based commercial real estate firm Frederick Ross and established a national practice representing leading corporations and institutional investors. During his tenure at Frederick Ross, he completed several major transactions, including representing the United States Mint on a 265,000-square-foot build-to-suit in downtown Washington, DC; the Times Mirror Corporation on a 100,000-square-foot land sale in downtown Denver (current site of the Hyatt Regency Convention Center); the sale of the 550,000-square-foot Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters in downtown Washington, DC; and the sale of the National Association of REALTORS headquarters in downtown Washington, DC. In 1997, after one year in the Denver marketplace, William Small was the #3 highest rated commercial broker in the Denver Metropolitan Commercial Association of Realtors.

In the late 1990s, William Small relocated to Aspen, Colorado, where he has been involved in commercial real estate investing and residential development and brokerage. Most recently, William Small represented Costco during its site search for a new store in the Vail Valley and its current Gypsum, Colorado, location. In addition, William represented JMB Financial and Next Development in their acquisition of the 120-acre Tower Center site adjacent to the Vail-Eagle County Airport. He has also represented other major retailers and developers throughout Western Colorado from Metropolitan Theatres to Urban Outfitters.

Memberships & Affiliations

William Small is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Aspen Rotary Club and former real estate advisor to the City of Aspen and Aspen Valley Hospitals. He is a past member of the Board of the Aspen-Glenwood Springs Board of Realtors and served for two years on the Colorado Association of Realtors State Legislative Committee. He is a member (inactive status) of the District of Columbia, Maine and United States Supreme Court Bar Associations and the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute, holding a CCIM designation.

Education

William Small holds a Juris Doctorate Degree from Seattle University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Maine.

Community Service & Involvement

William Small is actively involved in local charities and organizations.

Personal

Currently living in Aspen, Colorado, with wife, Lori and daughter Brigette, William Small pursues his passions of skiing, biking, hiking, tennis and golf. He and Lori are avid travelers and spend several weeks a year traveling the world learning about global economic trends and looking for promising investment opportunities.

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