WHO WE ARE

The Laurent Sterling Team

Fred H. Chute and Jeffrey D. Hagen

Fred Chute and Jeff Hagen have teamed together in commercial real estate since 1984: as a highly effective office leasing team; as development partners for major retail developments; and as successful Investment Sales brokers. They each bring forty plus years of commercial real estate experience to the table. They know particularly well the product types of office, retail, industrial, and multifamily.

Jeff and Fred’s professional history and experience have demonstrated that they perform very effectively as a team. They each bring unique and notable skills that tend to complement and enhance the skills of the other. The whole impact of the team is even greater than the sum of the individual contributions. The result is a brokerage force known as Laurent Sterling, which you will want to have on your team!

FRED CHUTE

Fred Chute

Executive Director
Phone: (612) 867-3904
Email: [email protected]

Fred Chute graduated from Yale University in 1972, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Fred also received formal training in accounting, via a correspondence course offered by the LaSalle Extension University in Chicago.

Following college Fred launched his career in commercial real estate. Over decades in the business, he has gained successful experience working on a wide variety of commercial product types, and in many different roles including developer, property manager, leasing representative, arranger of financing, construction manager, accountant, and investment sales broker. He has played a central role, either as a principal or as broker, in over $110 million dollars of commercial real estate sales transactions. He has also gained expertise in 1031 and 721 Exchange transactions. The product types with which he has extensive familiarity and experience include office, industrial, retail, multifamily, and limited service hotels.

Fred first crossed paths with Jeff Hagen in 1984, when Jeff’s company was hired to serve as leasing agents for the Broadway Place office buildings in Minneapolis, developed by the Chute Company. Fred and Jeff proved to be a formidable team when working together to lease the office project. They continued working successfully on that team effort throughout the development and leasing of 422,000 square feet. In 1994 they shared an award from the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) for “Creative Transaction of the Year”, based on a transaction completed in Broadway Place. The Broadway Place buildings were sold in 2007. Jeff and Fred also teamed up with another partner in year 2000 to develop a successful grocery-anchored shopping center in Vadnais Heights, MN. Vadnais Square was sold in 2016, with Fred and Jeff participating on the brokerage team to sell the project.

As a result of that selling experience and a number of others, Fred came to realize that Investment Sales brokerage is a process that he is skilled at, and that he greatly enjoys. Soon after the sale of Vadnais Square, Fred formed his own brokerage, Fontana Commercial Realty. That development eventually evolved into teaming up with Jeff Hagen to form the Investment Sales brokerage of Laurent Sterling.

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Jeff Hagen

Executive Director
Phone: (612) 802-9200
Email: [email protected]

Jeff Hagen graduated from St. Cloud State University in 1980, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate and Insurance, and a minor in Economics. Jeff has been a licensed Realtor since 1979. After college, he received early commercial agency training with Coldwell Banker Commercial Group (CBRE), where he worked as a sales and leasing professional. In 1984, the brokerage where Jeff was a commercial agent was hired to lease a new office building in Minneapolis. This building, known as Broadway Place, was being developed by Fred Chute’s family company. Jeff and Fred became a team, working together on the leasing of Broadway Place. Eventually, two additional office buildings were built in the same complex. For twenty-two years, Jeff and Fred continued working together successfully to lease those office buildings. The assignment only came to an end when the office buildings were sold in 2007.

In the year 2000, Jeff and Fred teamed up with others to develop a successful grocery-anchored shopping center in Vadnais Heights, MN. In addition, Jeff continued to represent other clients, and to invest on his own in a variety of commercial real estate projects. Jeff also founded the Platinum Properties Group, through which he carries out his investment activities in commercial real estate.

Jeff has frequently been recognized for his commercial real estate savvy, receiving awards including the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) “Award of Excellence”(2005), City of Hopkins “Image Award” (2003), Minnesota Shopping Center Association (MSCA) “Star Award” (2002), and the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) “Creative Transaction of the Year” (1994). Jeff holds the prestigious degree of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and engages in many industry associations.

Jeff’s brokerage prowess is complemented by his experience as a successful developer, purchaser, owner, and manager of a wide variety of commercial properties. This affords Jeff the true ability to “think like an owner”, and to understand the important considerations that must be represented effectively for his clients. Jeff’s ownership and development experience extends to the areas of office, industrial, retail, and apartment properties.