Michael Dermody

Michael C. Dermody joined the firm in 1976, becoming President and CEO in 1983. Under his leadership, the company’s portfolio grew from 2.5 million square feet to more than 25 million. Utilizing the team management concept, he led Dermody Properties from being a local real estate developer to a fully integrated, national industrial warehouse owner and developer. Dermody Properties’ keen focus on customer service has allowed the company to maintain its close client relationships as the company has grown dramatically into a nationally recognized organization. Although the company began as a family business, under Mr. Dermody’s leadership it quickly grew into a dominant national industrial development organization through its alignment with institutional partners such as CalPERS and CalSTRS. In 2007, taking advantage of an unprecedented real estate market opportunity, the company sold its 25 million square foot portfolio to Prologis in what was heralded as one of the largest portfolio transactions in industrial real estate. Today the company has returned to its entrepreneurial roots through a select national team of development partners in key markets with an excellent land base. With 37 employees, it has invested in more than 70 million square feet of buildings and has six regional offices throughout the country. The new partner model creates an alignment of interests that allows the company to react quickly and stay focused on its core business of leasing and developing industrial real estate. Born in Reno, Mr. Dermody attended primary schools in Reno and graduated high school from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. He studied at various schools in Switzerland and France, including the University of Bordeaux, and he obtained his Bachelor of Science from the University of Colorado in 1972 and a J.D. from Gonzaga University in 1976. A cornerstone of his career has been his deep commitment to community service and charitable giving. In 1985, Mr. Dermody established The Children’s Cabinet, a non-profit agency that serves the needs of 8,000 at-risk families in northern Nevada annually. In 1988, the Dermody Properties Foundation was created; it is solely managed and directed by the employees of Dermody Properties and benefits the citizens of the communities in which the company does business. In 1998, Mr. Dermody also founded Sage Ridge School, an independent secondary school with a uniquely integrated core curriculum. In 2004, Dermody Properties became a sponsor for its first Habitat for Humanity house. In 2007, the annual Thanksgiving Capstone Award was created as a means of recognizing the most significant charity each year in one community in which the company does business.