Meet Our Team

Darin began his career in real estate in 1994 and was quickly named the top producer for sales and leases at the largest commercial brokerage firm in Iowa. With plans to own his own company, Darin founded Ferguson Commercial Real Estate Services in 1999. Representing both buyers and sellers of commercial real estate assets across all market segments, Darin is involved in conducting complex negotiations, planning growth patterns for expansions, conducting market surveys, and developing targeted marketing plans for properties. In addition to overseeing the brokerage business, Darin has also expanded his expertise to include property management and development.

An Iowa real estate broker with over 30 years of experience in commercial and industrial real estate, Zane’s corporate clients praise him for his persistence and understanding of their needs.

Zane is a graduate of McPherson College with a degree in Business. He has numerous designations, including Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), and Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). Zane is a member of the Masonic Lodge, Za-Ga-Zig Shrine, Royal Order of Jesters, and the local Rotary Club.

As a native of Des Moines, Pat Schneider’s influence does not simply come from her real estate  brokerage work – instead, Pat is driven by her involvement in the community. She supports several non-profit organizations and impressively, was appointed by Governor Branstad in 2008 to serve on the Board of Directors of Iowa Title Guaranty, which is a division of the Iowa Finance Authority. Prior to her career in real estate, Pat served as the head of the United Way Foundation of Iowa and spent more than 23 years with US West Communications in sales and marketing.

Craig Crossland joined Ferguson Commercial Real Estate Services in 2004 after graduating from the University of Northern Iowa’s real estate program. He has established a solid reputation based on his success in representing buyers, owners, and tenants across all property types in lease and sale transactions. In 2011, Craig assumed the position of Senior Property Manager for Ferguson Property Management Services. Since then, the team’s management portfolio has grown to over 2.3 million square feet across all property types under management.

A Des Moines native, Ben Brackett returned to Ferguson Commercial Real Estate Services in 2014 after working for the State of Iowa’s Department of Administrative Services. His experience, effectively as their corporate real estate representative, included managing a portfolio of 225 primarily office leases comprising of over 12M square feet in over 70 different markets statewide. Additionally, Ben led the Iowa Lottery Authority’s acquisition/disposition process as they transitioned into their new headquarters, and notably, represented the state in the relocation and redevelopment of the historic Norden Hall from the Capitol Complex to the East Village.

Michael Shindler, a Des Moines native, joined Ferguson Commercial Real Estate Services in 2014 when he returned home to begin his career in commercial real estate. His knowledge of the Des Moines area has helped him settle in, but more important to his adaptation has been his previous business development experience at a Kansas City venture capital firm. While there, Michael facilitated an investment volume of $50M through projects ranging in focus from multifamily real estate portfolios to pharmaceutical companies.

Mitch joined Ferguson Commercial Real Estate Services in 2017 upon his return from his final semester at the University of Northern Iowa where he completed a double major in Finance and Real Estate.  Mitch first found an interest in commercial real estate through a co-op at Principal Financial Group where he worked in the commercial mortgage underwriting department for the southeast region.  Subsequently, he worked at Situs/Real Estate Research Corporation in the appraisal department appraising commercial properties all over the U.S.  Mitch is excited to experience the brokerage world and leverage his experience analyzing and evaluating investment properties.

Nathan Petsche started at Ferguson Commercial Real Estate Services in 2022 after spending the previous two summers interning with the team. A Waukee native, Nathan achieved his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Iowa and quickly went on to get his real estate salesperson license. In his free time he enjoys playing golf and supporting the Iowa Hawkeyes.