Our History
A Short History of Larsen Baker LLC
In the beginning, there was Arizona Development Group and Don Baker Realty. George started ADG in the 1980’s. Don Baker relocated his real estate company from Southern California to Tucson. Don and George were acquaintances. Times were good in the early 1980’s. Everyone was getting rich in commercial real estate.
Then came…The Troubles. The Troubles was the combination of inflation and recession. It started in the early 1980’s, and was caused primarily by Congress passing the Inflation Reduction Act of 1986. By 1984, the prime interest rate was 13% per year. All real estate development stopped. Banks failed. The RTC was established by Congress to sort out the mess. It took five years.
George was barely holding on at Arizona Development Group. Don was barely holding on at Don Baker Realty. It was a perfect time for the merger of two broke developers!
The urban myth is that George had the real estate knowledge, and Don was the master of raising investor cash. That was all true. Plus there were some amazing deals to be made in the 1980’s through the RTC.
For example: Don and George bought a ±22,000 sq.ft. professional office building near 22nd/Craycroft for $11.00/sq.ft.! They bought 33 finished golf course lots at Champaign at Starr Pass for $3,300/lot. Those were the days!
Their new partnership was called Larsen Baker LLC. It was formed with a handshake. It thrived for twenty four years.
In 2016, the company endured a tragedy when Don and his wife Dawn died in an airplane crash in Nevada. It was a terrible loss to the Tucson community, and to all of Larsen Baker’s employees.
The company grieved, but life and work had to go on. The young management team selected by Don and mentored by George was now called on to lead the company. Melissa Lal, Jennifer Whitman, Ted Herman, Isaac Figueroa, Kelly Rosales and many others were ready. Our lenders and investors soon recognized that the management team was skilled and ready to manage the company.
The company now has 45 employees/brokers. It owns and manages 6 million square feet of commercial properties. Larsen Baker is a 100% “woman and veteran owned” company. It is the leader in commercial real estate in Southern Arizona.
