Matt was commercial real estate pioneer

In the world of commercial real estate, Janet Barry Matt was a rarity.

Matt, of Hartland, who died Monday at the age of 82, was among the first female commercial real estate brokers in the Milwaukee area, and was the first woman in Wisconsin to become a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.

Matt was only the second woman in the nation to gain membership in the group, said her nephew, James T. Barry III, president of Cassidy Turley Barry, a Milwaukee commercial real estate brokerage.

"Janet was a pioneer in the world of commercial and residential real estate, a true professional and a mentor to many in the Wisconsin real estate community," Barry said.

Matt became a real estate broker in 1965, and in 1977 joined James T. Barry Co., the forerunner to Cassidy Turley Barry. That firm, which focuses on industrial and office sales and leases, was founded in 1921 by her father, James T. Barry, and was then operated by her brother, James T. Barry Jr.

At Barry Co., Matt was involved in numerous high-profile real estate transactions, including the sale of 200 acres to Rockwell Corp.; the sale of 27 acres to Kohl's Corp. for its first Menomonee Falls headquarters; and the sale of a 33,000-square-foot building in Milwaukee to Johnson Controls Inc.

After leaving Barry Co. in 1990, she and her two sons started Matt & Associates, a real estate brokerage in western Waukesha County. That firm's transactions included the sale of 26 acres Highways 16 and 83, in Delafield, for a new Pick 'n Save supermarket.

Source: http://www.jsonline.com/business/matt-was-commercial-real-estate-pioneer-6m6k4hn-167392425.html