R. Craig Coppola is the top producing office broker in Lee & Associates’ 39 year history, as well as one of the Founding Principals of Lee & Associates Arizona (1991). Lee & Associates is the largest broker-owned Real Estate Company in the U.S. with over 850 brokers and 63 offices nationwide. In 2015, he was awarded the William J. Lee Lifetime Achievement Award.
Craig has completed over 3,600 lease and sale transactions in the past 33 years, totaling a value in excess of $3,500,000,000. He has a lengthy track record of representing companies on a national and international basis.
Craig has been awarded National Chapter President (the highest honor given) for NAIOP (National Association of Office and Industrial Properties) and NAIOP Office Broker of the Year six times. He has also earned the top three designations in the real estate industry: CCIM, CRE and SIOR. Less than 33 people worldwide hold all three designations.
Craig is extremely involved with the commercial real estate industry and community, donating substantial amounts of his time annually. He served on the Arizona Chapter NAIOP board for over 12 years, including as Arizona NAIOP Chapter president in 2003 and currently serves on the NAIOP executive board. Craig served on the Central Arizona CCIM Chapter Board for seven years, including President. He served on the Southwest Chapter of CRE for ten years, including Chairman. Additionally, Craig has served on a broad range of community boards including the Banner Health Foundation (9 years), the Arizona Chamber of Commerce (8 years), the Xavier Preparatory Board of Trustees (7 years), and as the Valley of the Sun United Way Tocqueville Chairman for multiple years.
In addition to his Real Estate career, Craig is also the author of four books. His first book, How to Win in Commercial Real Estate Investing, won him the “Best First Time Author Award” from The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE). As a follow up to his investing book, Craig published, The Art of Commercial Real Estate Leasing in December 2014. Craig co-wrote, Chasing Excellence: Real Life Stories from the Streets with Lee & Associates Founder Bill Lee. In addition to his three real estate books, Craig has also written The Fantastic Life: How to Get it, Live it, and Pass it On, and What Now? A 5-Prong Approach to Handling Cancer Diagnosis & Treatment. He is widely known as an industry thought leader, and is asked to give numerous speeches each year on market overviews, forecasting, and strategic planning. Finally, Craig has two weekly blogs on the commercial real estate industry and other interesting topics that reach over a million people annually.
Craig holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Nicholls State University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University. In 2017, he was inducted into the ASU Sun Devil 100 for distinguished alumni who own or lead successful businesses.