415.579.1660 · jerry@baker1031.com
Jerry Baker founded Baker 1031 Investments to bring institutional real estate discipline to the 1031 exchange — working for the investor, not the sponsor.
From Wall Street real estate to the 1031 desk
Gerald F. Baker, III (“Jerry”) is the founder and managing principal of Baker 1031 Investments, LLC, specializing in institutional-grade Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) properties and tax-deferred exchange solutions for individual investors.
Prior to founding the firm, Jerry spent more than a decade on Wall Street, where he was directly involved in over $10 billion in real estate transactions, leading property investment strategies and acquisitions for several prominent private equity firms and hedge funds.
His expertise is underpinned by a 60-year family legacy in real estate — three generations of developing, managing, and investing in high-quality assets. He established Baker 1031 to address the lack of transparency in the 1031 marketplace, engineering an execution model that can complete complex transactions in as little as two to three days.
Before a single offering is shown, Jerry underwrites the underlying real estate the way a private-equity investor would — the market, the rent roll, the business plan, the debt — on the conviction that if the real estate does not make sense, the rest of the deal will not either.
What he does
Jerry serves as both the firm's broker and the architect of each client's replacement portfolio, building diversified allocations from institutional sponsors — names such as Blackstone, Hines, Apollo, Ares, ExchangeRight, and Cantor Fitzgerald — and coordinating the exchange against the 45- and 180-day clocks. He is also the author of the firm's Investing Memos.
The “Better Call Jerry” approach. Clients work directly with the founder — not a call center. Most DST allocations can close in two to three business days, and Jerry is reachable on a direct line throughout the exchange.
GlobeSt. CRE's Aspiring Leaders of 2026
In June 2026, GlobeSt. named Jerry one of CRE's Aspiring Leaders of 2026. GlobeSt. says the program honors commercial real estate professionals under age 40 based on their accomplishments, industry impact, service, and commitment to ethical standards.
Representative real estate
Representative assets Jerry worked on across acquisitions, underwriting, financing, and redevelopment over more than a decade in institutional real estate, prior to founding Baker 1031.
| Asset | Location | Type / Size | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockefeller Center | New York, NY | Mixed-Use · 17M SF | Private financing |
| Canary Wharf | London, UK | Mixed-Use · 16M SF | Private financing |
| Las Vegas Casino | Las Vegas, NV | Gaming · 375,000 SF | Acquisition underwriting |
| Kaleidoscope Mall | Orange County, CA | Retail · 243,000 SF | Re-tenanting & renovation |
| Historic Bank Block | Portland, OR | Office · 208,365 SF | Historical redevelopment |
| JFK Airport Animal Facility | New York, NY | Industrial · 178,000 SF | Development underwriting |
Roles span acquisition underwriting, financing, and redevelopment.
Licenses & registrations
- ❯FINRA registration — CRD 7537416 · verify on BrokerCheck
- ❯FINRA Series 22 — Direct Participation Programs Representative
- ❯FINRA Series 63 — Uniform Securities Agent State Law
- ❯FINRA SIE — Securities Industry Essentials
- ❯Real Estate Brokerage License
Education & prior firms
Babson College — Applied Mathematics; Applied Statistics
Prior experience: Arbor Bay Capital Partners · Detroit Venture Partners · Faris Lee Investments · Rock Ventures · Rocket Mortgage (formerly Quicken Loans) · ValueRock Realty Partners · Westport Capital Partners
The estimate of more than 250,000 real estate investors educated is derived from a January 2026 analysis of the Baker 1031 database of 255,000+ individual investors. Securities offered through Aurora Securities, Inc. (ASI) — CRD #46147, SEC #8-51322 — member FINRA/SIPC. Gerald F. 'Jerry' Baker, III is a registered representative of ASI (FINRA CRD #7537416). Baker 1031 Investments, LLC is independent of ASI and is not a registered broker-dealer or investment adviser. This page is informational only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, or tax or legal advice; any offer is made solely through a sponsor's private placement memorandum following a suitability determination. DST and related securities are speculative and illiquid, for accredited investors only, and involve substantial risk including possible loss of principal.