From the beginning of a partnership forged in the late 1980s, Stewart Stender and Lawrence Pobuda – like so many in the industry – have talked from time to time about setting up their own shop.

Nearly 20 years after Stender recruited Pobuda out of college to work on his team at Trammell Crow Cos., they've made good on a shared dream, launching the Stewart Lawrence Group, an investment and development firm.

"We've always kind of talked about it since we first met," Stender says. "In the last four or five years we were serious about it, saying, ‘Wouldn't it have been great to form a company?'"

Pobuda and Stender worked together for Trammell Crow back when the firm was a national developer with a strong presence in the Twin Cities. Stender started in Chicago in 1982.

Pobuda left Trammell for United Properties working in the healthcare and corporate services groups for the last 15 years. Stender, no stranger to start-ups, co-launched Apex Asset Management. He has been involved in the acquisition of more than 3 million square feet of office, industrial and multifamily properties, as well as partnering with Opus Northwest in the development of two high-profile downtown Minneapolis condo projects.

Stender, who has spent the last five years involved with condo projects, believes that has peaked for now, and it is good timing to move on to other projects.

Pobuda says the timing was right for the type of projects the two want to take on.

"The development market is coming around, and for the first time in many years we have spec office under construction," he says. "Industrial is strong and getting stronger. Today in Minneapolis, job growth is returning to the city; we're optimistic. Also, our collective experience, knowledge, contacts and shared vision will allow us to act quickly to emerging opportunities for in-fill projects and in the outer lying areas."

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