“Exclusively Representing Tenants and Buyers of Commercial Real Estate”
The Compass Mission
Our Mission is to provide commercial real estate services globally by advocating for our corporate clients interests and increasing their profits.
The Compass Core Values
Empowered, Optimistic, Integrity, and Inclusive.
Lynn Drake is the president and founder of Compass Commercial, formed in 2010 to exclusively to represent tenants and buyers of commercial real estate. Her commercial real estate career started in 1987 while working for Central Transport, where she was responsible for acquiring and leasing truck terminals and warehouses across North America. Afterwards she spent 5 years acquiring, leasing and securing zoning approvals for cell towers in Michigan and Massachusetts. At Kelly Service Lynn and her team, managed the acquisition and renewals of over 1,000 leased locations across North America. A turning point came in 2000, when she went on an Outward Bound mountain climb and decided to do something different with her business life, becoming a commercial agent.
Lynn spent her first 1 ½ years working in the traditional brokerage setting, but it didn’t take long to realize that she didn’t like the conflict of interest created by working in a traditional firm. She joined Equis, which exclusively represented tenants and buyers. After working there for seven years Lynn’s business coach asked her what her employer was doing to help grow her business as an independent broker. Lynn said having a national platform was the best part of working there. Her coach challenged her to find a way to open her own firm. It didn’t take long for Lynn to start Compass Commercial once the decisions was made.
During Lynn’s tenure with Kelly Services she was tasked with having her department complete continuous improvement goals. She obtained the highest rating for her work in rebuilding and outsourcing the real estate department. That experience is the basis for creating systems at Compass Commercial. Combining her experiences in corporate real estate and traditional brokerage results in superior service to clients. Many agents have no idea what happens after a lease or a purchase agreement is signed. The Compass system has taken the entire leasing and buying process and streamlined it for our clients.
Compass Commercial has represented many local and national firms. Its second largest client is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, with Compass managing the Society’s real estate activity for more than 6 years. In 2013 Compass also won the right to represent The State of Michigan, beating out many well-known national firms. The firm’s largest customer, the Federal Government approached Compass Commercial in 2021 to expand their office in Detroit. See our tab under Clients for more information on who Compass Commercial represents.