Will McCullough – Gold and Company

There is a phrase locals use to describe Baltimore that Will McCullough has heard more times than he can count: Smalltimore. The idea is simple — in a city where industries overlap and careers span decades, nearly everyone eventually crosses paths with everyone else. For McCullough, vice president at Gold and Company, that observation is not just a cultural footnote. It is the organizing principle of his professional life.

McCullough came up in Baltimore’s commercial real estate market the old-fashioned way — by showing up, staying visible, and never burning a bridge. He spent more than a decade as a leasing representative for St. John Properties, where he was charged with keeping his own portfolio of buildings occupied and his tenants satisfied. It was hands-on work that gave him an intimate understanding of how businesses actually use physical space — from the trades involved in a transaction to the building systems and zoning realities that shape occupancy decisions. From there, he moved through a senior role at Lee & Associates and a stint as real estate director at Celebree School before joining Gold and Company in November 2023.

“Relationships are everything,” McCullough says. “Things may come full circle. You never know where your next deal is going to come from.”

That philosophy has shaped every stage of a 32-year career in Baltimore. Whether navigating multi-page lease negotiations or sourcing off-market industrial properties, McCullough has consistently returned to the same conviction: how well you know the person on the other side of the table matters as much as the terms themselves.

The industrial heartbeat

When McCullough joined Gold and Company, he was drawn in part by a firm whose focus aligned perfectly with the market he had spent his career mastering. Founded 27 years ago by Mitch Gold, Gold and Company is a boutique commercial real estate brokerage that has spent nearly three decades cultivating an intimate understanding of Baltimore’s industrial, retail, office, and land markets. The firm’s particular strength lies in Class B and Class C industrial assets and industrial outdoor storage near the city’s key port corridors — a specialized niche that positions it to identify opportunities, often off-market, that larger national firms routinely overlook. Its portfolio spans a healthy mix of traditional industrial properties and newer Class A distribution centers, enabling the team to serve a wide range of clients, from local operators to expanding regional and national tenants.

McCullough had known Gold for over 30 years before finally making the move. What he found upon arrival exceeded his expectations.

“I was blown away with the company’s market knowledge and deal flow volume,” McCullough says. “The work ethic, sense of humor, knowledge — it all made for a good fit.”

With a team of seven independent contractors, Gold and Company operates lean by design. There is nowhere to hide in a firm that size, and McCullough considers that an advantage rather than a constraint. Accountability is built into the structure. Every broker owns their outcomes, and every client engagement reflects directly on the firm’s reputation.

Bringing value to every transaction

McCullough’s approach to his vice president role centers on a consultative model that begins long before any lease or contract is signed. Rather than waiting for a client to come to him with an active requirement, he works to understand their business operations well in advance — tracking how they use space, where they plan to grow, and what operational pressures might shape their next real estate decision. It is a process he describes as value engineering: aligning real estate strategy with broader business goals so that every transaction produces a tangible operational benefit.

“Adding value to a client’s real estate process means showing properties or working with a client well in advance of any real estate requirement,” he says. “We understand their business and how they use real estate to add value.”

That depth of engagement has translated into meaningful transactions. Last year, the firm assisted a buyer on a $20 million Class A warehouse deal — the kind of high-profile assignment that reflects Gold and Company’s ability to compete at scale. McCullough has also worked on the seller representation side, facilitating a sale on a mixed-use project to a life sciences company from South Korea that expanded its operations to Baltimore, bringing 350 specialized scientists to staff a new stem cell laboratory and headquarters in the city.

“Every city likes to have a shot in the arm,” McCullough says of that deal — one that reinforced his belief in Baltimore as a market with enduring momentum and genuine appeal for companies growing beyond their home markets.

Competing at the national level

Gold and Company’s boutique size does not limit its reach. McCullough credits technology with narrowing the gap between regional firms and their national counterparts. Tools that once gave large brokerages an informational edge — market data platforms, transaction databases, communication systems — are now accessible to everyone.

“When I first started, there was no CoStar,” he says. “But everyone has multiple platforms for tapping into market data now. Having that information at your fingertips is great.”

What technology cannot replicate, however, is the embedded market intelligence that comes from 30-plus years of doing business in a single city. McCullough knows Baltimore’s submarkets, its zoning nuances, its building systems, and its informal networks. He stays active in the Maryland Motor Truck Association, an organization whose membership closely mirrors Gold and Company’s core industrial client base. That kind of sustained presence in the business community — the visibility, the relationships, the accumulated local knowledge — is what allows the firm to surface deals that never reach the open market and to compete credibly against national brokerages on the assignments that matter most.

McCullough has always invested in his own development. Early in his career, he pursued industry-specific credentials and designations to build credibility and deepen his technical fluency. He has absorbed lessons from mentors, from books, and from decades of negotiating complex contracts and leases — including the occasional 30-page document with 80 rounds of redline edits. He remains methodical and client-first throughout.

“You have to get the best deal for your client,” he says. “I work diligently to gain their trust and negotiate the best long-term real estate solutions.”

That discipline has defined a career marked by consistency rather than flash. McCullough describes himself as aggressive but patient — a combination that has served him well in a market where relationships deepen slowly and the best deals often take years to mature. As Baltimore continues to evolve, with its office market beginning to rebound and industrial rental rates holding strong, he is focused on the same things that have always driven his success: knowing the market, knowing the client, and knowing when to roll up his sleeves. In Smalltimore, those qualities tend to travel far.