Trotz Real Estate Services

Originally incorporated as Herman Gruber & Company in the early 1930s, the company was divided into two segments – real estate and casualty insurance.
The real estate activity included land development, commercial development, home building and some appraisal services.
In the 1950s, the direction of the real estate department changed as the land development and home building divisions were disbanded.
All attention and efforts of the company were directed to the development, sales, and leasing of both commercial and investment properties, with some limited appraisal work.
Numerous large neighborhood shopping centers and smaller strip centers were subsequently developed by the company principles.
In 1977, Herman Gruber & Company was acquired by a partnership whose majority percentage was owned by A. E. Balkin. Mr. Balkin changed the name of the company to A. E. Balkin & Associates, Inc. and sold the insurance division to a third party. At that time the company’s main focus changed to providing real estate appraisal services while continuing to provide commercial and industrial brokerage and leasing services.