Gary Holmes

Gary Holmes is the founding president of CSM Corporation. CSM says he built his real estate skills by acquiring properties in his teens and early adulthood, then started CSM in 1976. The firm describes his work as developing, renovating, and restoring commercial, industrial, hotel, and residential properties nationwide.

Holmes attended the University of Minnesota. CSM says he received the University of Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award in 2005, was the inaugural recipient of the University of Minnesota Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2006, received the John F. Cade Award in entrepreneurship from the University of St. Thomas in 2000, and was inducted into the Twin Cities Business Hall of Fame in 2008.

CSM’s lodging division began in 1992 with the acquisition and renovation of a former Howard Johnson hotel into a Country Inn by Carlson. The company later built or owned more than 40 hotels and more than 4,700 rooms, operating hotels for brands including Carlson, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott.

Holmes is also tied to entrepreneurship education in Minnesota. He is founder, benefactor, and a current board member of the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Minnesota, which hosts the Minnesota Cup startup competition. He has also held community and board roles involving Allina Hospitals and Clinics, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, University of St. Thomas School of Law, Children’s Cancer Research Fund, Children’s Hospital, the University of Minnesota Biotechnology Incubator Labs Advisory Board, and Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.

• CSM’s clearest stated investment style is long-term ownership and operating control in real estate. Its commercial page states: “We invest for the long-term.”
• Holmes’ hotel investment approach emphasizes selective, fundamentals-driven additions. In a Hotel Business interview, he said CSM adds properties “only when and where it makes good business sense.”
• CSM looks for assets where it can combine acquisition, development, renovation, leasing, property management, and in-house services rather than act as a passive capital provider.
• Sector focus is real estate-heavy: commercial, industrial, retail, office, hotel/lodging, and residential properties.
• The firm’s target assets appear to be properties or projects with a clear operating path, long-term ownership potential, and fit with CSM’s internal development and management capabilities.
• There is no verified public evidence that Holmes personally runs a venture-capital or angel-investing program for seed-stage startups, despite his role in Minnesota’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through the Holmes Center.