SYRACUSE — Steve Case, who most recently worked as a leasing director with his mentor Robert (Bob) Doucette at Paramount Realty Group, LLC, struck out on his own earlier this year, launching his own real-estate firm. Case’s company, Acropolis Development, LLC, operates in a 1,500-square-foot space at 247 W. Fayette St. in the Hogan […]
SYRACUSE — Steve Case, who most recently worked as a leasing director with his mentor Robert (Bob) Doucette at Paramount Realty Group, LLC, struck out on his own earlier this year, launching his own real-estate firm.
Case’s company, Acropolis Development, LLC, operates in a 1,500-square-foot space at 247 W. Fayette St. in the Hogan Block building, a structure that Doucette owns and Case manages.
Case started Acropolis Development in early 2015.
“I always knew that I wanted to have my own real-estate company at some point. It was just a matter of timing and when and where,” says Case. He spoke with CNYBJ on Nov. 13.
As Case was working on projects earlier in 2015, he realized he had the “capability to start doing a lot” of the work on his own.
“[Doucette] came to me at one point and said, ‘hey, are you ready to jump off and start your own company and be more of a partner on these projects than an employee,’ and I went ahead and just did it,” says Case.
He called Doucette “a great mentor to me over the past six years,” having first met him while taking his real-estate development class at Syracuse University’s (SU) Martin J. Whitman School of Management.
Case didn’t have to look far to find his initial operating space, he notes.
Argus Engineering, PLLC had occupied about 4,500 square feet on the second floor of the Hogan Block building. That firm has since bought a building in DeWitt and moved out, according to Case.
He had been working with some potential tenants who were looking for a 1,500-square-foot space, which was the same amount of space he needed for his firm.
When Argus Engineering moved out, Case had subcontractors divide up their space into three smaller spaces, and Case took one of the spaces.
The subcontractors doing the work included Matt Caves, a local flooring contractor; Allied Electric Co. of DeWitt; and Best Interiors of Syracuse, according to Case.
About Acropolis
Acropolis Development focuses on residential real estate, brokerage, property management, and development.
“As of right now, everything’s Acropolis Development when people make their checks out, no matter who it is, but going down the road, I will start Acropolis Property Management as a separate entity; Acropolis Brokerage as a separate entity,” says Case.
He may eventually develop an umbrella name for the firm using the word Acropolis, he notes.
The firm’s development arm is currently working to buy a vacant, historic building on Water Street in Hanover Square.
“We’re converting the ground floor into retail and then building out apartments on the upper floors,” says Case.
Case has one full-time employee. T J Perkins was a student in Case’s real-estate development class in SU’s Whitman School. The working relationship evolved in the same manner that brought Case together with Doucette, Case says.
Besides Perkins, Case’s firm also has three independent contractors who work as real-estate salespeople, “who either will list a house for a seller or work with buyers to help them find a [home], whether it be a condo downtown or a house in the suburbs,” he says.
Case hopes to hire additional sales agents and expand Acropolis’ property management business, he says.
Case says he uses the word “Acropolis” in his firm’s name because of his fascination with Greek architecture.
Doucette influence
Case says that after getting to know Doucette while taking his real-estate course in the Whitman School, he went to work for him.
“I came on working with Bob [at Paramount] right after I graduated [from SU],” he added.
Case was aware of Doucette’s involvement in the present day Armory Square, noting his work on Center Armory and ownership of the Hogan Block building.
He wanted to model his career after Doucette’s effort, learning real-estate development and seeing how projects evolved from start to finish.
“I was able to learn a lot about development through the Dey’s [Plaza] building project that we had done, converting the upper floors to 45 luxury apartments,” says Case.
Case still works with Doucette on projects, more so than with Paramount Realty Group, he says.
Case is a 2003 graduate of Charles W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in economics at Bucknell University in 2007.
Following his undergraduate work, Case returned to Central New York to work at Worldwide Motorcom, a car dealership that Case’s father managed in Cicero.
A few years later, Case enrolled in classes at SU’s Whitman School, earning his MBA degree in 2011, before joining Paramount Realty Group.