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During the Great Depression, Norris, Beggs and Simpson was founded as Norris, Beggs and Base.聽 On April 1, 1932 it opened its doors as a property management firm in the old Wilcox building at 506 S.W. Sixth Ave., where it occupied the entire second floor. The firm has since seen its share of growth and change.

While other companies were closing, Norris, Beggs and Base was expanding and opening a second office in Tacoma, Wash. This caught the attention of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Co., based in Boston, which approached Norris, Beggs and Base to manage the foreclosed properties in San Francisco. This alliance allowed NBS to expand its service offerings into mortgage origination.

David Simpson joined the company in 1936, initiating the name change. Clayton Hering, chairman of NBS鈥� board, said, 鈥淵ou would always find Mr. Simpson impeccably dressed in the latest fashion and never without a hat. His time spent outside of the office was at the Arlington Club, where he would often change his suit and shirt after lunch before returning to the office. The man had a 鈥榯winkle鈥� in his eye. His wife was kept on a farm in Carlton, never to be seen by the public.鈥�

The farm was a 450-acre spread called Hickory Hill; Simpson was into animal husbandry. According to the 1942 issue of Who鈥檚 Who magazine, Simpson told one of his clients, Fred Meyer, that he had always wanted to train a lion. When Meyer opened his next store, he had, as part of the event, some lions on exhibit. When a cub came along, Meyer gave it to Simpson, who promptly named it 鈥淢y-te-fine.鈥� Training the lion turned out to be a bigger challenge than expected, and it was donated to the Portland zoo.

Simpson was a lion in his own right.

鈥淗e was in good company with Fred Meyer, Aaron Frank, Andy Anderson and Boyd McNaughton,鈥� Hering said. 鈥淚t was often remarked by the NBS staff that when they would meet 鈥� the building would 鈥渢ip a little鈥� due to the weight of the clout.鈥�

Expansion continued throughout the 鈥�30s. NBS opened another office in Seattle; however, during World War II, the brokers went off to defend their country and the office was ultimately closed.

In 1952, it acquired San Francisco-based Robert Cramm Co., increasing its mortgage loan service offering. Sacramento seemed to be the next logical step, and NBS acquired the loan service portfolio of the McBridge Realty Co.

鈥淚n the California days they brought on a partner, Steven Gilley, who emulated Simpson鈥檚 dress and style,鈥� Hering said. 鈥淗e was aggressive, and quickly gained the reputation of 鈥榞o to鈥� broker in the market. Steve got into a dispute with the California partners because his expense account exceeded everyone else鈥檚 combined and left in a huff, taking a large book of business and several brokers with him, starting the Gilley Company, which later became Cushman & Wakefield.鈥�

NBS鈥� growth in California continued, and offices opened in San Jose, Oakland and Los Angeles.聽 From the 1960s-80s it held Hawaiian corporation NBS Ltd., which eventually merged into its California group, and in 1994 the California group was sold.

NBS joined NAI Global, a 350-office international commercial real estate network; opened a office in Vancouver, Wash., in 1985; and acquired the Harding Fletcher Co., a Portland commercial banking firm, in 1995. To strengthen its financial services division, NBS in 1997 joined Strategic Alliance Mortgage, which provides real-time market information to NBS mortgage bankers from SAM members across the country.

Change continued in the 21st century, including the formation of Morrison Street Capital LLC and NBS Multifamily Management. NBS opened an office in Bend and relocated the Bellevue, Wash., office to Seattle.

Another monumental milestone for the company was the announcement of Jan Robertson as Chief Executive Officer in 2011. She is the eighth person and the only woman to hold this title.

Robertson started with the company as an assistant property manager in her early 20s. According to Hering, 鈥淪he is God-gifted in gray matter, and when I became president I promoted her to chief administrative officer. This meant that the partners and I gave her all of the ugly tasks we didn鈥檛 want to work on, and she rose to the challenge. She has been the glue that has held this company together for the last 30 years!鈥�

Of her early days, Robertson said, 鈥淚t was quite overwhelming. I had gone from small town to big business. I started just before our 50th anniversary and all the bigwigs came from California. It was like walking onto the set of 鈥楳ad Men.鈥� One thing I learned early, and still believe, is real estate is real. I remember one day typing away and then downtown on my lunch hour, I looked up and there was the building I had been doing the reports on all morning! I thought to myself: real buildings, real people. It was an 鈥榓h-ha鈥� moment, realizing that we were there to help people with their obligations, and that it mattered.鈥�

Robertson said, 鈥淭he future looks bright for NBS. A lot of companies haven鈥檛 made it through these most recent tough times, and with 80 years of experience we are well positioned for whatever might come next.鈥�

NBS recently completed a major remodel of its office 鈥� the entire second floor of the Bank of America building at 121 S.W. Main St.

鈥淲e have repurposed the original lobby chairs, covering them in gray leather,鈥� Robertson said. 鈥淭he chairs are back in the lobby where they belong.鈥�

The next time you pull up a seat at NBS, think about who has sat in those chairs before you, and who will make an impression in the future.

Tracy Laine is a business development manager for a national security services provider in Portland. Contact her at 503-890-0100 or at [email protected].