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IRET started in Minot

Investors Real Estate Trust or IRET was formed in Minot in 1970.

According to the Minot Daily News files, initially offices of the trust were located at 305 Main Medical Building.

Roger Odell was in charge and an adviser. He also served as assistant secretary of the Trust and as one of the seven trustees, according to an Oct. 1, 1970, story about the then new business.

The other trustees, according to the Minot Daily News, were C. Morris Anderson, Ralph A. Christensen, John D. Decker, J. Norman Ellison Jr., Magner J. Muus and Thomas A. Wentz, all of Minot. Muus was chairman; Christensen, vice chairman; and Wentz, secretary.

The newspaper reported a prospectus stated that “under the Trust agreement, the Trust is permitted a broad range of real estate and mortgage investments.”

The prospectus added that “the Trust agreement does not limit the geographic area in which trust assets may be invested; however, it is the expectation of the trustees that the initial investments by the Trust will be primarily in the Minot area.”

Existing investments of the Trust, as set forth in the prospectus, according to the newspaper in the 1970 story, were listed as $120,000, with $60,000 of this sum invested in bank deposits; the balance consisting of real estate equities acquired from Odell in exchange for 60,000 shares of beneficial interest in the Trust.

The operations described in the prospectus were: “The trustees anticipated that the urban renewal projects approved and planned for Minot and other North Dakota communities will present investment opportunities for the Trust. The Trust may seek to participate in the real estate development projects resulting from urban renewal in North Dakota as a developer, lender or investor. However, no assurance can be given that such urban renewal projects will materialize or that the Trust will be successful in bidding on such projects.”

A year later, IRET announced it was managing 100 living units as well as commercial property valued at $920,000.

IRET was the only trust of its kind in North Dakota and one of the few in operation outside of major cities in the entire nation, according to Odell in a May 6, 1971, story in the Minot Daily News.

Thirteen years later, in January 1983, Odell announced Wentz, an attorney, had become his partner in the firm of Odell-Wentz & Associates located in the First Avenue Building. The firm would serve as the adviser to IRET. The firm would be responsible for the management of more than $20 million of real estate assets owned by the Minot real estate concern and also manage two other Minot real estate firms – Jenner Ind. and Magic City Realty Ltd. Odell had been responsible for the management of IRET since its formation in 1970. Wentz would be secretary of the Trust.

IRET continued to grow over the years and today IRET, according to a news release, focuses on the acquisition, development, redevelopment and management of multifamily communities located primarily in select growth markets throughout the Midwest. As of Jan. 31, IRET owned interests in 130 properties that were held for investment, consisting of 86 multifamily properties consisting of 12,813 units, and 44 commercial properties, including 30 healthcare properties, containing a total of about 2.7 million square feet of leasable space.

IRET’s common shares and Series B preferred shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

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