CEDAR FALLS - "Mr. Real Estate" is heading west - about seven miles.

Longtime Waterloo real estate agent Kevan Cortright, whose family has been in real estate in the Cedar Valley since 1952, is joining forces with another longtime development name in the area - Lockard Realty, now based in Cedar Falls.

Cortright noted his father, Ken, and Lockard board chairman Ken Lockard's father, Wendell, were contemporaries.

"I think it's a good cultural matchup," Cortright said. "It will allow me to have a presence in the market and get involved in some markets they (Lockard) are involved in in other towns."

"We are really excited about it," Ken Lockard said. "Kevan, particularly in the Waterloo large home market, is kind of like his advertisements - 'Mr. Real Estate.' He brings with him a very strong brand."

"With my 36 years of experience, it's going to give them more tools in their bag," Cortright said. "I can get involved in commercial as well as residential brokerage. It's going to bode well for me to be involved in construction and development opportunities as they exist in the Cedar Valley, in addition to other markets."

Cortright brings with him agricultural property specialist Barry Ewoldt and administrative assistant Angie Thesing.

Cortright said his group will be known as "the Cortright team" at Lockard Realty, and that his old company, Cortright Realtors, will essentially cease real-estate brokerage operations. The office had as many as 18 real-estate agents at one time. Most left for other opportunities late last year.

"I just knew it was time for a change," Cortright said. "I very clearly had decided, in the fourth quarter of last year, that I didn't want to have the responsibility of going forward with multiple salespeople." He said that was a matter of personal choice, not a negative reflection on his former agents.

Cortright and his "team" are moving into Lockard offices at Pinnacle Prairie off Greenhill Road in Cedar Falls. Cortright and Tim Kneeland own the building at 3806 Pheasant Lane in Waterloo, where Cortright's brokerage previously was located.

Wachovia Securities, formerly AG Edwards, is relocating to the Pheasant Lane building from 626-628 Commercial St.

Cortright said he is excited about the potential of his new arrangement with Lockard.

"I'm going away from running a clinic to being more like Marcus Welby," Cortright said, referring to the old early 1970s doctor television series starring Robert Young.

Contact Pat Kinney

at (319) 291-1426 or

pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com