Jeff Smart lives up to his name.
A senior vice president for Grubb & Ellis Co. in the South Bay office, he was the real estate services firm’s top Los Angeles County broker in 2007 by total value of brokered transactions.
That means Smart, who handled 1.96 million square feet of space for a total deal value of $162 million, beat out every broker in every brokerage niche from multifamily to retail to office. The numbers also made him the top industrial broker nationwide.
“My experience is that he is the most thorough, detailed and complete broker I know,” said Sam Foster, a senior vice president for Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
The 46-year-old Manhattan Beach resident, who went to CalState Long Beach for college and an MBA, is humble. He readily acknowledges the role of the market in his success.
“The South Bay is arguably the highest demand industrial market in the country, so my job becomes significantly easier,” said Smart, who began is career with Grubb & Ellis in 1985.
But Bill Boyd, executive vice president at Grubb & Ellis and managing director of the firm’s Los Angeles metropolitan region, said Smart has racked up the accolades because he is so attuned to his clients’ needs.
“There is never a question that Jeff’s clients’ goals are always his goals and his efforts are consistently and always in the clients’ best interest,” Boyd said.
Smart handles both lease and sale transactions, but said he prefers working on sales because that is “you can add more value to the process.”
Many of his top deals in 2007 were sales, including a 250,320-square-foot industrial building in Carson that sold for $21 million. On the leasing side, Smart handled a two-building, 553,584-square-foot lease in Compton for Transamerican Auto Parts Co. The $20 million deal typifies why he finds his work satisfying.
“I’ve seen the transformation of that company,” said Smart, who started working with Transamerican 20 years ago. “That’s what it’s all about for me the relationships are really the most important things. ”
BEST BROKER
Jeff Smart
Title: Senior Vice President
Company: Grubb & Ellis Co.
Key Fact: Company’s top broker nationwide in 2007 by total value of brokered transactions
