HSA Commercial’s corporate and division leadership was profiled in the October 2011 edition of the Illinois Real Estate Journal. The Journal’s Mark Thomton explores the company’s mission as a diversified, full-service real estate firm and how HSA’s leadership has maintained and built upon that strategy over a distinguished 30 year history.

Sometimes it’s not the advice you follow, but that which you reject that can offer the keys to success.

HSA Commercial Real Estate has followed its entrepreneurial spirit for 30 years to build a portfolio that stands today in excess of $1 billion. Now, as it continues to establish new services and business lines, its principals envision an even brighter future.

“It’s a good thing that we didn’t listen to a lot of people,” says Jack Shaffer, founder and chairman of the firm.

In the past, as HSA began to grow, Shaffer would often receive the advice to specialize in a specific area of practice. It was generally a perceived notion that a private firm offering a plethora of real estate services would suffer in competition against more targeted companies or bigger, corporate entities. Shaffer rejected the notion. Although he admits that he is a developer at heart, he and Robert Smietana, vice chairman and CEO of HSA, have always believed that a diversified approach to commercial real estate would best serve the firm in the long run.

The recent economic climate has proved them right.

The full article is available on REJournals.com.