Gary Lyons

Gary Lyons, CCIM, SIOR, ALC, serves as Managing Director/ Senior Advisor for Sperry Van Ness/AIM Realty Advisors, specializing in investment real estate and land transactions. Lyons has handled a variety of transactions including sale/leasebacks, net leased, flex, industrial properties, and land across North and South Carolina.  He also has extensive experience in leasing office, flex and industrial properties.

He is one of just three brokers in North Carolina who holds the coveted Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation, the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors (SIOR) designation and the Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) designation.

In the past five years, he has completed more than 35 transactions valued in excess of $80 million and since early 2004 his brokerage team has collectively closed transactions resulting in a sales volume of greater than $180 million. He is licensed in North Carolina and South Carolina.  Lyons finished in the top 5 percent of advisors at Sperry Van Ness in 2007 where he was awarded the Platinum Achievers Award.  He was an Achiever Award winner in 2005 and 2006.

Prior to joining Sperry Van Ness, Lyons served as president and managing broker of AIM Realty Advisors, Inc., a commercial real estate firm providing sales, leasing, consulting and development services. With a broad commercial real estate background strengthened by his experience working for several Fortune 500 companies, Lyons’ clients benefit from his extensive sales, marketing and finance training. Gary has traveled extensively during his career.  He has been to more than 15 countries including his most recent international trip to Kosovo (September 2004).

Lyons remains an integral part of his community. Lyons serves on the Wake Forest Advisory Board for North State Bank and on the committee for Economic Development for the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce.  Lyons is a former board member of the North Raleigh Rotary Club and the Wake Forest Chamber.  He is also a 2004 graduate of the Leadership Raleigh program (Raleigh Chamber of Commerce).

Lyons is the Immediate Past President of the North Carolina Chapter of the CCIM Institute, which is one of the nation’s largest chapters. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. Lyons also obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration from Georgia State University. He is married with two children and resides in Raleigh.

Gordon Osborne

Gordon Osborne, Senior Advisor,  specializes in the site selection, acquisition, development and sale of commercial real estate, particularly retail properties, including free standing retail, neighborhood and regional shopping centers and urban mixed-used retail/office/hotel redevelopment properties.

Prior to joining Sperry Van Ness in Raleigh, NC, Gordon co-founded a commercial real estate firm in northern Maryland. Osborne secured his securities license with Welton Street Investments, LLC (a FINRA member firm) to become one of the few real estate professionals licensed to offer high quality tenant-in-common real estate investments.

Osborne began his real estate career in 1971 after earning a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State University. Since then, Osborne has held executive positions with national real estate development companies and has been engaged in the acquisition, development and leasing of institutional grade properties ranging in value from $2M to $200 million dollars throughout the United States. His professional experience includes turn-key project management responsibility involving the construction of over 3 million square feet of mall anchor store space, the expansion and renovation of more than 7 million square feet of shopping center GLA and revitalization of downtown business districts by creation of more than 2 million square feet of urban mixed use retail, hotel and office space.

Throughout his career, Osborne has developed a significant depth of experience in all phases of the property development process including site selection, acquisition, planning, organizing, design, financing, construction, leasing, and sales involving approximately 13 million square feet of retail, alone.

Some of Gordon Osborne’s career highlights include the expansion and renovation of the 1.1 million square foot Mission Valley Shopping Center in San Diego, CA; directing the retail development activities of Rivercenter, an urban mixed use retail, office and 1,000 room Marriott hotel redevelopment project on the River Walk in San Antonio; managing the planning, design and entitlement phases of the First San Diego River Improvement Project in San Diego’s Mission Valley (to overcome flood plain restriction and restore underling commercial development potential in Mission Valley); and overseeing the expansion of GE Capital’s Simu-Flight, an aviation flight training center at DFW airport. Other areas of experience include industrial, medical and commercial office and student housing development.

Mike Peebles

Mike Peebles serves as a Senior Advisor for Sperry Van Ness / AIM Real Estate Advisors specializing in all aspects of retail real estate and investment sales. He has been practicing commercial real estate in the Triangle region since 1984.

Prior to joining Sperry Van Ness, Mike owned Peebles Commercial Realty performing general brokerage, tenant representation, third party leasing and also developed properties for his personal portfolio. During two of the past three years, while at Peebles Commercial, Mike has received the CoStar Power Broker award (retail division), which is awarded to the top producers in a particular asset class in their respective market.

Mike began his real estate career at Davidson & Jones Commercial with his father, Julian Peebles. Initially at D&J Mike worked as a leasing agent. Mike quickly learned the major aspects of the development process and moved in to the development division as a project coordinator. Mike has played a key role in retail development projects (shopping centers) from Georgia to Virginia. After his tenure with Davidson & Jones, Mike joined the team at Income Properties where he worked 10 years developing and leasing shopping centers.

Mike is a candidate for the prestigious Certified Commercial Investment (CCIM) designation. He has completed all of the required course work and only has the final exam remaining in order to receive the designation.

Mike was born and raised in Raleigh. He attended East Carolina University. He is married to Hunter Peebles, who owns Hunter’s Dance, Inc., a very successful dance studio based in Wilson, NC. Mike and Hunter have three children.

Mike remains highly involved in his community where he has coached swimming, football and basketball for the past 30+ years. Most recently Mike was an assistant coach for three boys teams at North Raleigh Christian Academy. Mike loves to work with young people and has served for many years in his church’s youth group as a Sunday School teacher.

Mike was a co-founder of The First Tee of the Triangle, an international non-profit organization dedicated to teaching valuable life skills to area youth. Mike is also a member of the Board of Directors for MINA, which operates a local basketball ministry, the North Raleigh Basketball Academy (NRBA). Mike can even be found some times coaching at one of the NRBA summer camps when he is not selling real estate.

Rick Emerick

Rick Emerick serves as an Advisor for Sperry Van Ness specializing in industrial and office property transactions.

Prior to joining Sperry Van Ness, Emerick had over 35 years of international business experience with major global manufacturing companies. He served in a number of applications, sales, marketing, and operations management positions in the United States prior to and after returning from Managing Director and President-level positions in Europe in the 1980’s. He was very active in the Far East, establishing and managing joint ventures there. His executive management experience includes strategic direction as well as sales, operational and product development activities. Dealing with multiple sites, acquisition and divestitures, and sale-leaseback projects provide a strong background for commercial real estate. He has also been involved locally as an active partner in a residential land development company.

Emerick is an active member of his church and involved in several other community-based service activities.

Emerick has an electrical engineering degree from Duke University in Durham, NC and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Dayton. He is a candidate for the prestigious Certified Commercial Investment Member designation. He resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.


Scott Busch

Scott Busch serves as Senior Advisor for Sperry Van Ness, specializing in Multifamily and Multifamily Land transactions. He has closed over $75 million in apartment sales.

At one time Busch held the record for the largest apartment transaction in the history of North Carolina, and has been designated a “Commercial Real Estate Heavy Hitter” by the Triangle Business Journal.

Prior to joining Sperry Van Ness, Busch co-founded AIM Realty Advisors, Inc., a full service commercial real estate firm involved in brokerage, investment real estate, site selection, and development consulting services.

As an involved commercial real estate Advisor, Busch is a member of the Triangle Apartment Association where he has served in multiple capacities and is currently serving on the Board of Directors.  In addition, he is active in his church, is an active member of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce  and the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce where he has also served on the Board of Directors.  Busch is a candidate for the prestigious Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. As such, he is on target to be among only six percent of commercial real estate practitioners nationwide to hold the designation.

Busch received a degree in Business Management from North Carolina State University and resides in Raleigh with his wife.