California People and Company News, Week of March 7, 2025

• ISS, a global leader in workplace experience and facility management, has appointed industry veteran Emily Watkins as VP of sales, West Division for ISS North America. In the newly created role, Watkins will work alongside Craig Honig, recently appointed president of the West Division.

• Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a nationally recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, has named EVP Jeff Lefko as partner. Lefko has ranked as the firm’s top producer since joining in 2015. He will lead a newly launched Hanley office in San Diego. 

• Avanath Capital Management LLC, an Irvine-based multifamily owner and operator primarily focused on affordable and workforce housing, added Troy S. Jenkins to its investor relations division. As SVP, investor relations, Jenkins will lead capital-raising initiatives for Avanath’s affordable housing, development, and debt funds while fostering relationships with institutional investors and consultants. 

• Nicole Mihalka will join CBRE’s Downtown Los Angeles office as an SVP specializing in leasing advisory and transaction services in the creative office, entertainment, and studio space. Mihalka joins from JLL and brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record in the Los Angeles market. CBRE also announced that Justin McMahon has rejoined the firm’s Orange County office, where he will specialize in representing owners and tenants of retail properties. 

• Colliers has expanded its brokerage operations to Santa Barbara with the addition of one of the market’s top-performing teams. Austin Herlihy, Chris Parker and Miles Waters, who collectively specialize in the sales and leasing of office, retail, hotel, industrial, land and multifamily assets across the Central Coast, join the firm’s newly established Santa Barbara office. 

• Kidder Mathews has hired EVP John Leyvas in Silicon Valley. With over 30 years of experience, Leyvas specializes in multifamily investment sales — including affordable and senior housing, residential land development, condo conversions, and 1031 tax-deferred exchanges. Before joining Kidder Mathews, Leyvas was a top-producing broker at Cornish & Carey, which was later acquired by Newmark. 

• The USC Marshall School of Business launched The Andrew Tavakoli Center for Real Estate, following a $10-million transformational gift from Andrew Tavakoli. Andrew Tavakoli is CEO and principal of Tavaco Properties and graduated from USC Marshall with a Master of Science in Business Administration in 1986.  

• NAIOP SoCal will induct Victor J. Coleman, CEO and chairman of Hudson Pacific Properties, into its Hall of Fame during NAIOP SoCal’s 2025 Industry Awards Gala on May 14. Coleman’s career in real estate spans more than three decades. In 1990, he founded Arden Realty and built it up to become Southern California’s largest office landlord before selling it to GE. Following the sale of Arden Realty, Coleman founded, took public and continues to lead Los Angeles-based Hudson Pacific. 

• The San Diego chapter of Lambda Alpha International recently held its annual Crystal Globe Award & Installation Gala at the Marriott Marquis and San Diego Marina. This year, the land use organization’s signature event honored California Senate President pro Tempore Emeritus Toni Atkins with the Crystal Globe Award. The award recognizes an exceptional, lifetime body of work resulting in a significant contribution to the advancement of land use and real estate development in the greater San Diego region. 

• ExchangeRight, a leading provider of diversified real estate DST and REIT investments, has announced that its Net-Leased Portfolio 67 DST was fully subscribed by investors seeking stable income and strategic exits through historically recession-resilient offerings. The $81.57-million offering features 371,430 square feet of real estate leased to national tenants in necessity-based industries. The portfolio is structured to provide monthly distributions with a current annualized rate of 5.00%. 

• Bixby Capital Management, a privately held real estate investment trust with $1.5B of AUM totaling 9M SF, is seeking an Acquisitions Analyst in Newport Beach, CA. The Analyst will be a key member of the Acquisitions Team and will be responsible for underwriting and analyzing potential core, core-plus and value-add investments. This role will also assist in deal execution across industrial and office property types throughout the Western, Southern and Southeastern US. The ideal candidate has at least 1-2 years of real estate experience, preferably with office and/or industrial real estate product. Executive search firm RETS Associates is handling the search. Inquires and resumes can be sent to[email protected]. 

• Menlo Equities, a private, vertically integrated commercial real estate investment firm, is seeking an Associate in Menlo Park, CA. The Associate will be responsible for supporting acquisitions and asset management financial analysis across the U.S., specifically for data center assets, contributing to their expanding digital infrastructure platform. The ideal candidate will have 1-4 years of relevant experience in real estate investment, private equity or investment banking. Executive search firm RETS Associates is handling the search. Inquires and resumes can be sent to[email protected]. 

Thursday, March 20: Be there to learn from and network with the experts from Gantry, CBRE, Wonderful Real Estate, RETS Associates, BKM Capital Partners, Thorofare Capital, Kidder Mathews, Buchanan Street Partners, and many more on March 20^th at the 9^th annual Connect Orange County conference. Don’t miss out on the industry’s most insightful Orange County CRE event of 2025. Be sure to register in advance; registration pricing increases on event day. www.ConnectOC2025.com