Professional Profile: Martin Berman - 1982

Name: Martin Berman - 1982

Title: CEO

Company: Berman & Sons, Inc.

Location: Boston

Birthplace: -

In honor of his 50^th birthday next May, Marty Berman is dedicating virtually all of his efforts this year to raising $50,000 for the New England School of Law, his alma mater. Known for the past 30 years throughout New England as a real estate educator, Berman has taught at Boston Univ., Northeastern Univ. and is on the faculty at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. As a practicing attorney since 1965, he manages to combine just the right degree of layman’s law, with his real estate experience to make lectures educational and interesting. Berman is the CEO of the family management company, Berman & Sons, Inc., which is responsible for the management of more than 1,000 apartments and several hundred thousand sq. ft. of office space. Over the years, he has appeared in the headlines of the Journal when he has been involved in newsworthy real estate dealings. His purchase of the Colonial Theatre in Boston recently led to speculation that he would shift his emphasis from investments to Show Biz but he leased the theatre to professionals. “I love the theatre too much to subject the Colonial to a novice’s approach to the arts,” Berman explained. In addition to his teaching and investment in real estate, Berman thrives on his community and civic involvement and estimates an average of 20 hours a week is dedicated to these causes. “This is a luxury reserved for bachelors,” Berman claims. “It might be considered a dereliction of responsibility for a family man to do the amount of charity work that I do,” he points out. As a vice president of the Jewish Big Brother/Sister Assn., Berman thinks he can keep his perspective of youth and the elderly and he finds his work as a trustee of the Beth Israel hospital and the New England School of Law rewarding as well. Upon graduation from Boston Univ. with a B.S. degree in business administration in 1956, Berman joined the family RE business and discovered how difficult and complex the world of business is without a legal education. He attended Portia (now New England) Law School evenings and graduated in 1965 when he passed the Mass. Bar exam. Business didn’t become simpler or less complex for him but he has managed to perpetuate the family business, build up a private law practice and enhance his teaching skills by benefit of his legal education. Having served twice as president (1960-61, 1968-69) of the Rental Housing Assn. of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and the New England Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management, Berman has been an outspoken opponent of rent control and other anti-landlord legislation. In fairness, he has also been critical of “slum landlords” and their abuses of tenants. In 1971, nearly a decade ahead of his time, he successfully completed the largest conversion of apartments to condominiums in Brookline to that date. Berman did the legal work as well as the planning, financing and marketing so that “I could better teach the subject from a practical point of view.” While it may be tempting to think of semi-retirement with concentration on teaching, Berman feels a total involvement in RE and law is what keeps his ideas fresh. His latest offering at Bentley College this year is a true seminar format where total participation is the rule. Students are encouraged to challenge Berman to reveal his experiences and trade secrets. “This year is exciting for me because I have found the ideal way to celebrate my 50^th year through education,” Berman stated. “Rather than dread the passing years, I can share my knowledge with younger minds at Bentley while raising funds for the most promising law school in New England,” he concluded. Reputedly shy of publicity, Berman shows no hesitation when asked to stand up and speak out for one of his pet causes. 1983 is the year of “The Law School” and, if you doubt it, just ask him.