Lee Kiser

Founder, Kiser Group

Kiser’s Chicago-based multifamily brokerage carved out a niche by focusing almost exclusively on mid-market apartment buildings and private capital.
A fourth-generation real estate professional, Kiser entered commercial brokerage in the late 1990s and launched Kiser Group in 2005 after a stint at Marcus & Millichap, initially concentrating on a handful of North Side neighborhoods like Uptown.
That hyperlocal start became the firm’s DNA. Kiser Group grew quickly by doing one thing well — selling privately owned multifamily buildings — and eventually expanded across Chicagoland, southeast Wisconsin and northern Indiana. As the firm scaled, Kiser shifted from being just a broker to building infrastructure, slowing growth at times to invest in staffing, technology and back-office support.
“The challenge the last several years has been making sure we have the right foundation — the right technology, the right staff, the right people in the right seats,” Kiser said. “We slowed down to do that correctly.”
The past cycle has tested the mid-market thesis. Transaction volume dropped as rates rose, forcing brokers to work harder for fewer deals. Still, Kiser Group remained active across market-rate, senior and affordable housing, and in 2025 expanded into Minneapolis, betting that its expertise would translate beyond Chicago.
Kiser has become increasingly vocal about the broker’s role in politically sensitive markets, arguing that multifamily brokerage helps move capital efficiently into neighborhoods facing regulatory and demographic change. He believes specialization, not scale alone, is what keeps a brokerage relevant when the market takes downward turns.

— Sam Lounsberry