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Age: 36
President, PCD Capital Group LLC
Andrew Held had an impressive law career going—as an Indiana University-Bloomington law student, he clerked for federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker and Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Margret Robb before joining Hackman Hulett & Cracraft LLP and then Bose McKinney & Evans LLP in its Real Estate Group.
“I practiced almost five years,” the Indianapolis native and North Central High School graduate said, “and it almost seemed like it was a better fit to be on the business side. Law is a great career, and it’s a tremendous background, particularly on the real estate business side of things.”
So he went to work for School Craft Development LLC developing shopping centers and, to learn more about finance, went back to school at Butler University for his MBA.
In August 2008, Held and several partners started Pedcor Commercial Development LLC. With the economy tanking, the timing, seemingly, couldn’t have been worse. But PCD hadn’t established a niche, so rather than development, it decided to buy assets to seed the company. Most of that occurred in Southern California, where Held spent a lot of time picking up five projects from people or banks looking to unload their holdings. (He still managed to continue his longtime work with the Penrod Arts Fair and be home with his wife and their three children.)
PCD was able to buy around $100 million of assets by the end of 2011, Held said. And as the real estate market normalized, Held and company have shifted their focus back to Indiana. They’re buying the Echo Ridge Apartments on the east side of Indianapolis and have two projects in Muncie.
“To me,” Held said, “it’s all about shifting your focus and recognizing opportunities as they present themselves. We were able to do that. We’re a small group, so we’re able to be pretty nimble.”•
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