William J. Cullen, Broker

Partner

William started his career in multifamily real estate in 1989. He has always focused on residential rental properties and through decades of hard work and a trusting personality he has created a database of 1000s of people active in multifamily real estate. 

William's passion for multiffamily isn’t just a job, his volunteer work is also in multifamily.  He has served on the board of Minnesota Multifamily Association, was President of St. Paul Association of Responsible Landlords for 3 consecutive terms and served on Mayor Randy Kelly’s board as a public advisor for Housing 5000.

Because William is so well respected and knowledgeable, he is frequently asked by MMHA and Sparl to present “state of the multifamily market” to their members.

William's sales volume frequently puts him at the top of his peers.  His achievement comes because he knows how to find the jewel in every property and articulate it to Buyers.   This skill allows him to get the highest price for all assets – even those that other brokers consider hard to sell.  Some of his creative deals involved seller carry backs, leases with an option to buy and even converting Co-op properties to rental properties.

William has a B.S. in Computer Science from South Dakota School of Mines and has taken many Masters level classes from University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.  His recreational interests are mostly spending time with his daughters, golfing and spending time at his cabin in Isanti, Minnesota.

Robert L. Colwell, Esq.

Partner

Robert began his career as an attorney where he practiced in both California and Minnesota. After several years of law, Robert made the switch to real estate and began at Garfield Clark & Associates where he stayed for seven years. While at Garfield Clark, among the many clients Robert represented was Centex Multi-Family Communities.  Robert was instrumental in the purchase of the Upper Landing in St. Paul for Centex.   

Having lived for several years in California, Robert was quite familiar with Marcus & Millichap and knew several of the agents in the San Francisco office.  Thus, in January 2006 upon learning Marcus was to open an office in Minnesota, Robert became one of the first people hired for the new Twin Cities office.  While at Marcus, Robert built a large database of apartment owners throughout the Twin Cities area.  Robert closed nearly $40 million in real estate sales throughout his time at Marcus & Millichap.

Having gained significant training and experience throughout his time at Marcus, Robert felt it was time to leave and to join forces with William Cullen, who was also at one time a Marcus agent.  After several meetings with area brokerage firms, Robert and William felt it would be most beneficial to work as a solo partnership rather than join another large firm.  Relying on their significant contacts and expertise, William and Robert are well on their way to making WilliamRobert Apartment Advisors the number one apartment brokerage firm in the Twin Cities.   

Robert has a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law and a B.S. in Marketing from Arizona State University.

Chris Johnson, Agent

Agent, Owner

Chris Johnson has been an apartment specialist since 1991.  He has brokered thousands of units to clients large and small in Minnesota, Arizona and California. From large multi-family complexes with institutional owners to the smallest duplex with a first time ”landlord,” Chris has a wide knowledge of a variety of property types and client needs.  

Chris has brokered a number of distressed transactions including The Sexton in downtown Minneapolis, The Gramercy in Edina and Arte Senior Living in Arizona.  Chris has experience with the foreclosure process and dealing directly with lenders.

What separates Chris from his peers is his intimate knowledge of managing apartments.  He has owned over 1000 units since 1991 and self-managed them all.  He can help clients evaluate a property not just on the “proforma” but apply real life expectations from his own experience.  

Chris is a graduate of The Blake School and St. Olaf College.  He lives in Edina with his family and coaches hockey.