About Palm Beach Associates

Victor L. Peterson Jr, (Lee) is the founding member of Palm Beach Associates and holds a proven track record of success in Real Estate. He served as CEO / President at his family’s real estate business (MJ Peterson Real Estate) for over 40 years. Based in Western New York, MJ Peterson has grown steadily over the 90 years of its operation. Lee is recognized as one Buffalo’s leading real estate consultants, with experience in investing, lending, building, and developing. Drawing on more than 40 years of industry experience, Lee has overseen countless mergers, acquisitions, and joint-partnerships over the years. Lee has served on real estate boards in Erie and Niagara county, as well as on the WNY chapter of Diabetics.

Lee started at MJ Peterson Real Estate as a young man, starting from the basement up. He completed many of the different phases of home building, from cleaning basements to picking up scrap lumber. He continued on to learn about rough carpentry, then trim carpentry, pouring footings, and basement walls. This hands-on approach gave him great insight into the custom home building market.

Lee attended Michigan State University, where he graduated in 1965. Lee continued to take real estate courses and obtained a Real Estate Brokers license in 1966. Lee stands behind the belief that the more education a person receives, the better the chance for success. He continued on to earn the designations GRI, RAM, CPM, CRB, and finally CCIM.

At MJ Peterson Real Estate, Lee pushed the company through several growth phases and started a practice of diversification. When residential home construction slowed for the company, MJ Peterson expanded into market-rate apartment buildings and subsidized apartment complexes.

After stepping down from his leadership role at MJ Peterson in 2020, Lee started Palm Beach Associates to bring his expertise to the Florida market. Today, he has grown MJ Peterson to an annual $63+ Million real estate company, with a portfolio of over 3,300 rental units, a brokerage with 200+ real estate agents, and a custom homes division.