Major players in real estate development for many years, SVN | The Martin Group and The Martin Group, Inc. bring a depth of expertise to their work locally and nationally. It all started with company and family patriarch John N. Martin, who continues to share his wellspring of knowledge to this day.
At 93, John is retired but remains involved with the enterprises now overseen by his son, Steve, with Steve’s sons Andy and Alex on board in key roles. John maintains a keen eye on things as a senior advisor, joining video conferences and visiting the company’s home office in Evansville now and then.
“He still keeps after us. Even today,” Steve says.
John’s climb in business started after serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict and using the GI Bill to attend Indiana Business College in Indianapolis. He started with Firestone as a branch salesman while going to school, and after earning a degree in accounting, he worked for Cummins Engines in Columbus, Indiana, then branch manager for a Kimball subsidiary, Evansville Veneer Company and ultimately moved to Huntingburg, Indiana, to become National Finance Manager for Kimball Piano & Organ (now Kimball International).
He was elected four times as clerk-treasurer of the City of Huntingburg and started a public accounting firm at the same time. While doing this, he built the first Section 8 housing property in Indiana. When Steve joined in 1977, a year after Steve’s graduation from the University of Evansville, they formed what was then called Pleasant View Management Company (now The Martin Group, Inc.) Their initial focus was on affordable housing.
“I enticed him to come into the family business and manage, develop, and build apartment properties,” John recalls. “He said, ‘Well, let’s try it for a year.’ He’s still here 48 years later.”
“He told me I was young and cheap,” recalls Steve with a laugh.
Over the years, The Martin Group’s enterprises oversaw the development, consulting, management, and asset management of more than 12,000 apartments across 18 states. In 1987, the company did Indiana’s first Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credit project.
The family company continued to grow. It was associated with RE/MAX commercial for five years before affiliating with the SVN Network and taking on its current name 22 years ago.
SVN | The Martin Group operates in Evansville and Indianapolis as well as Louisville, Kentucky. The full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm serves large, medium, and small businesses, plus individual entrepreneurs. It also provides services for the sales, leasing, and management of commercial properties locally and in other states.
The company might be best known for managing the development of the 215-acre, mixed-use Promenade project on the East Side, where Costco Wholesale and other major retailers have located, as well as the apartment complex Promenade Flats.
It’s truly a family affair — Steve’s brother, David, was in the family business for 18 years before leaving to work in medical office development. Steve’s wife, Anne, remains as Director of Accounting. And Steve’s and Anne’s sons, Alex, 39, and Andy, 35, represent the third generation. Alex is Managing Director and Vice President of Property Management, while Andy’s title is Managing Director and Vice President of Brokerage and Development.
Andy’s fascination with real estate started early: He remembers building Lego cities while growing up. “It was just always in the blood,” says Andy, a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. “I went to school for business administration, and I transitioned my minor to real estate development. I knew all the way through school that something was in the cards. We talked about the Indianapolis office opening, and I decided to join the company right out of school.”
Alex studied business at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, but always was drawn to real estate appraisal. “As time went on, I decided I would come into the company and the rest is history so far,” he says.
Andy and Alex say their backgrounds and skill sets complement one another, and Steve adds that he and his brother David had a similar relationship during their years working side by side.
Steve, Anne, Alex, and Andy point to John’s longstanding stewardship of the family company, establishing a legacy of having success and having fun along the way.
“One of the greatest pieces is being able to have that generational experience, and being able to easily tap into it,” Andy says.
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