Josh Simms
Born: Jan. 31, 1970 (29)
Senior Associate
Douglas Emmett & Co.
Whenever an investor buys a multimillion-dollar piece of commercial real estate, there is a key figure: the person who performs the financial analysis and due diligence.
For Brentwood-based Douglas Emmett one of the most active buyers of top-tier real estate in the Los Angeles area that person is often 29-year-old Josh Simms.
“The people at the partner level have the intellect but don’t have the time (for the analysis). They have tremendous confidence in him,” said Anton “Tony” Natsis, a real estate attorney with Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory LLP who has worked with Douglas Emmett on a number of deals.
Working directly at the “foot of the master” chief financial officer Jordan Kaplan Simms has done the financial analysis for more than $1 billion worth of deals over the past three years. Among them: the purchase of the Glendale Federal Building, Sherman Oaks Galleria and Barrington Plaza, the largest apartment building in West Los Angeles.
Like many in the industry, Simms comes from a real estate family. He worked for two years after graduating from the University of Southern California for his father at Simms Development, investing in retail centers. He then returned to USC for his MBA.
“I always knew I’d go into investment banking or real estate, I guess because of my father’s influence,” Simms said.
After Simms circulated his resume to various real estate firms before graduation, Kaplan called him from an airplane en route to New York, saying Emmett needed someone to help close several pending deals.
“I said, ‘Sorry, I don’t have enough experience.’ He said, ‘What do you know and what can you do?’ I said, ‘Not much, but I can learn quick,’ ” Simms recalled. The two later met and Simms has worked for Douglas Emmett ever since, assuming more and more responsibility.
“I’m working on at least three deals at a time,” said Simms, who confesses to taking work home at nights and weekends. “I’m working on balance in my life.”
His goal remains the same as he described it to Kaplan early on. “I told him I really wanted to go out and be a deal guy, to do what he does to negotiate the deals and understand the whole process,” Simms said.
Elizabeth Hayes
