Mark Three is built on partnership, family, hard work and an unwavering willingness to never give up
On January 1, 1976 at a Denny’s diner in Sacramento, a young and eager electrician named Mark O’Brien sat down at the counter when a successful businessman-turned-developer named Buzz Oates sat down next to him.
The two men sparked up a conversation and realized they had one degree of separation. Buzz knew Mark's uncle from the same training school in Deming, NM before serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Buzz mentioned he was looking for an electrician to help wire his growing portfolio of warehouses. “I’m your guy,” said Mark. Charlie Massie was brought in as the third investor and “Mark III Electrical Contractors” was founded.
Mark III leased a small office and yard area from Buzz Oates and Charlie Massie in their offices on Florin Perkins Road in Sacramento. As the project pipeline grew, Mark made his first hire — his younger brother, Tim. His next hire was their friend to handle payroll and purchase orders. Basically overnight, the firm grew to be 25 people.
Shortly thereafter, Mark III expanded into other trades. They even created a design department led by an in-house architect. The “Power of One” concept was created, and the firm’s vertically integrated, multi-trade approach — everyone working seamlessly together as one team on every project — set them apart, giving them a competitive advantage in the fast-growing commercial construction industry.
Transition from Construction to Real Estate Development
As their expertise in the sub-trades expanded, so did the firm’s ambitions to grow. With their partners, Mark III Construction oversaw their first tilt-up warehouse project in the early 1980s, located near the Stockton airport. Mark and Tim’s middle brother, Gerry, joined Mark III and quickly made an impact with his ability to manage projects and motivate the crews. Gerry spearheaded the group’s expansion into Texas, spending 12 years building warehouses for large corporations and their own investment portfolio in the California Central Valley and on the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso. The development and construction companies — Mark III Industrial Developers and Texas Builders — developed build-to-suit projects for Fortune 100 companies such as GM, Ford, Bosch, Siemens, UPS, and others.
Together with Buzz Oates and other Sacramento real estate developers, Mark III continued to design, develop and build warehouses in the Central Valley and throughout Northern California, creating a strong reputation as one of the region’s premier developers of industrial real estate.
The Coin Flip
Both Mark III and Buzz Oates continued to successfully grow their respective companies, and in 2001, as the nature of their businesses evolved, the partners amicably agreed to part ways and divide their shared portfolio of properties in McAllen and El Paso, TX and the California Central Valley. Decided by the flip of a coin, the O’Briens kept the California buildings while Oates took those in Texas.
Out on their own, Mark III put more focus towards commercial real estate development and building up a vertically integrated construction and development team. Mark’s daughter, Jennifer O’Brien Cooley, spearheaded the firm's new direction and lead development of projects in the Sacramento Region, Northern California, and Texas. The firm specialized in speculative and build-to-suit development of industrial, office, medical office, and retail properties.
(standing L-R) Tim O'Brien; Carl Panattoni; and Gerry O'Brien. (sitting L-R) Charlie Massie; Buzz Oates; and Mark O'Brien.
Continued Evolution and Growth
While the real estate company had always been a separate entity from Mark III Construction, in 2010 the partners of both groups made a strategic decision to restructure the construction company. Mark III Construction would return to its roots and focus its energy and expertise as a commercial MEP subcontractor for third-party construction projects. Mark III Asset Management would continue to grow the development team into a multi-generational private real estate investment, development, and management firm, managing the family portfolio of commercial real estate holdings. Mark III Construction has grown to become one of the largest multi-trade commercial construction companies in Northern California, leading the evolution of construction through its M3 MEP, M3 Service, and M3 Components divisions.
Family has been the company’s driving force since the beginning, when brothers Mark and Tim O’Brien first started Mark III together over 50 years ago. Over the years, many of their family members — brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, sons and daughters, and now grandchildren — work or have spent time working at one of Mark III’s companies, each making their impact and learning the business and the value of hard work. Beyond family, many dedicated employees have also made an incredible impact during their careers at the company, including several of those who have retired from the company and some that are still with Mark III. They are considered family and it is recognized that their efforts have helped make Mark III what it is today.
Mark Three Ventures: A Vision for the Future
To celebrate its next chapter and better reflect the future vision for the real estate company, in 2026, Mark III Asset Management rebranded itself as Mark Three Ventures. Today the firm’s mission is to create exceptional experiences in commercial real estate through the development, investment, and management of commercial real estate properties.
Looking forward, Mark Three Ventures will continue to strategically grow the portfolio through both ground-up development of new buildings, and through the targeted acquisition and thoughtful repositioning of value-add properties. The firm will also grow through expansion into new markets, uncovering great investment opportunities where others overlook them, and will continue to build an exceptional commercial real estate company through dedicated teamwork, strong partnerships and integrity.
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