Our Professionals
Essex agents average ten years of real estate experience and come from a variety of real estate backgrounds including law, accounting, finance, appraisal, and property management. This breadth of knowledge and experience benefits our clients by providing the necessary tools to anticipate and solve problems, thereby increasing the likelihood of a successful transaction.
Douglas S. Imber 
President
Douglas S. Imber is co-founder and President of Essex Realty Group, Inc. He has been involved in nearly $1 billion of investment real estate transactions throughout his 20 year career and has represented many of Chicago's most prominent real estate companies and lending institutions. In addition, Doug is the general partner of more than 2,000 apartment units throughout the Midwest.Â
Doug received his Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University and completed his Masters of Management from Northwestern University's J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, with concentrations in finance and real estate. He is a licensed real estate broker in Illiinois.
Doug has been honored as Chicago's top multi-family broker and is a regular speaker regarding Chicago's investment real estate market.
Doug lives in Glencoe with his wife Lisa, a real estate attorney, and their twins, Jacob and Arielle. He remains involved in numerous charitable organizations.
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Managing Directors
James J. Darrow
Managing Director
James J. Darrow is a third generation investment real estate practitioner with in excess of $300,000,000 worth of closed real estate transactions to date. He has more than 15 years of investment real estate experience and has been with Essex since 1998.
The son of a successful commercial real estate developer and investor Jim has followed in his family's long real estate tradition; he owns and actively manages investment properties in the Lakeview and Lincoln Park neighborhoods in the City of Chicago. Consequently, Jim has been involved in real estate in one form or another his entire life. This depth of experience and knowledge are the greatest assets he contributes to his clients.
Jim has worked with many of the most active and prominent Chicago investors, including ICM Properties, Acorn Management, Peak Properties, Banner Property Management, and M. Fishman & Co. to name a few.
Jim is a licensed real estate salesperson in the State of Illinois. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Saint Joseph's College, majoring in Management and minoring in Political Science.
Jim lives in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with his wife and children. Jim remains active with the Edgewater-Uptown Builders Association, Southport Neighbors Association and was the 2008 & 2009 Vice-Chairman of the Chicago Association of Realtor's CommercialForum Committee. Jim currently serves as the 2010 CommericalForum Chairman and is on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Association of Realtors.
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Douglas Fisher
Managing Director
Prior to joining Essex Realty Group in 2002, Doug was a Vice President with the Liberty Hampshire Company, LLC, a privately held investment firm specializing in Asset-Backed Securities and providing off-balance sheet funding to financial institutions. Previously, he was a Director in the Asset Backed Finance Division of the Capital Markets Group at The First National Bank of Chicago (now JPMorgan Chase).
Doug began his career at First Chicago in the Bank's Corporate Finance and Capital Markets Training Program and has participated in the origination and underwriting of over $20 billion in asset securitization transactions.
Doug received a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA in Finance from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Doug also received Series 7 Securities Licensing in 1996.
Doug has been active in the following community organizations: Edgewater-Uptown Builders Association (Membership Co-Chair), Rogers Park Builders Group, Celebration of Life for Children with Cancer (Vice President), Young Leadership of JUF (Past Treasurer), Real Estate Trade Division of JUF and Chicago's Partnership 2000.
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David B. Goss
Managing Director
David B. Goss has been involved in the real estate industry for close to 20 years. Prior to joining Essex, David was a private investor and consultant with 3D Ventures LLC. David has been involved in numerous acquisition and leasing transactions in the real estate sector during his career. He also served as a consultant to Wal-Mart Stores in connection with the disposition of surplus assets in the United States.
Prior to his time with 3D Ventures LLC, David was a Senior Partner with Syndicated Equities, a real estate investment and brokerage company where he was a tax consultant to property owners desiring to reduce tax exposure in connection with the acquisition and disposition of assets and was involved in transactions in excess of $200 million. He was also involved in the asset acquisition and syndication programs at Syndicated Equities.
Prior to Syndicated Equities, David was Vice President and General Counsel of Transco Inc. where he directed and oversaw all legal matters for the diversified transportation and utility services company.
Additionally, David was a Partner in the real estate department of Rudnick & Wolfe (now known as DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP), a leading national law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
David holds a Juris Doctor, Order of the Coif from the College of Law of the University of Illinois and an MBA and Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Matthew C. Welke
Managing Director
Matthew C. Welke joined Essex Realty Group, Inc. as Managing Director in March 2004 to focus on investment brokerage throughout Chicago. Prior to joining Essex, Matt was an Investment Associate with a national real estate brokerage company in Chicago. During his tenure there he was recognized with multiple achievement awards. Matt has also been recognized multiple times by the Chicagoland Commercial Real Estate Forum for his achievements, his impact on the community, and his professionalism and ethics.
In addition to his investment brokerage business, Matt co-founded Plan B Solutions, LLC with the vision of assisting financial institutions in the receivership and management of distressed real estate assets. Matt has been involved in the sale, acquisition, development or management of over $400 million of investment real estate.
Matt attended Purdue University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management with minors in Finance and Manufacturing Management. Matt currently resides in Park Ridge with his wife, Kristie, a high school teacher, and their daughter Madeline. He remains involved in numerous charitable organizations.
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Jim Barcelona
Managing Director
James R. Barcelona joined Essex Realty Group, Inc. in January 2006 as a Managing Director focused on representing clients with multi-family assets throughout suburban Chicagoland. Prior to joining Essex, Jim participated in the brokerage of over $750 Million in multi-family investments during his six years at Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Company.
Jim is a licensed real estate salesperson in the state of Illinois. He received his Business degree from The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, where he majored in Accounting.
Jim is a native of Hinsdale and currently lives in Elmhurst with his wife two children.
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Jon P. Morgan
Managing Director
Jon Morgan joined Essex Realty Group in 2004, focusing on multi-family brokerage throughout Chicago. Jon's entrepreneurial background enables him to assist clients in maximizing their investment real estate opportunities. His expertise includes multi-family, office, and retail assets.
Prior to joining Essex, Jon was the Managing Partner for a niche athletic apparel and marketing company located in Atlanta Georgia. Jon started his career as a Licensed Financial Specialist with Wachovia Bank, a diversified financial services company, and was responsible for providing a wide variety of investment and banking products.
Jon received his Bachelor of Finance degree from The Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University.
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Jacob H. Fenton
Managing Director
Jacob Fenton joined Essex Realty Group in 2004 and focuses on representing buyers and sellers of commercial real estate throughout Chicagoland. Between 2004 and 2007, Jacob helped to facilitate the closing of over 45 commercial properties totaling more than $250 million. His expertise includes multi-family, office and retail assets.
Prior to joining Essex, Jacob was the Vice President at Decorent, a full service web design firm specializing in marketing multi-family properties throughout the Chicago area. He began his career at Navigant Consulting, a litigation services firm, and focused on project management, e-Discovery, and securities fraud litigation.
Outside of the workplace, Jacob is involved with the Youth Leadership Division of the JUF and the Ross School of Business Alumni Association of Chicago, for which he serves as a Board member.
Jacob is licensed as a Real Estate Salesperson in Illinois and received his Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He is currently working towards his MBA at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
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Directors
Aaron Feldman
Director
Aaron Feldman joined Essex Realty Group in 2006, focusing on multi-family brokerage throughout Chicagoland. Between 2006-2009, Aaron facilitated the sale of over 30 investment properties totaling more than $60,000,000. His expertise involves multi-family, office, and retail assets.
Away from work, Aaron is actively involved in Young Real Estate Professionals of Chicago (YREP) and Young Real Estate Professionals of JUF.
Aaron currently resides in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago. Aaron is a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in Illinois and graduated from Miami University (OH) with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.
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Bryson T. Young
Director
Bryson Young joined Essex Realty Group in 2009
and focuses primarily on the retail and shopping center investment market in the Chicagoland area. Bryson’s experience in acquisitions and property management allow him to assist his clients in unlocking the full potential of investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Essex Realty, Bryson worked with Essex Capital in Northbrook where he was a part of the investment acquisition team, responsible for deal sourcing, underwriting, and closing. He started his career managing a 52 story high rise in the prominent Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago.
Bryson received his Bachelor of Science in Communications from Northwestern University where he was also a member of the nationally recognized Wildcat Golf team.
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