Chicago-based Ferguson Partners, a talent and advisory firm for global real assets industries, hired Bob Mayes as senior managing director to open the firm’s Los Angeles office and oversee the West region with a focus on real estate. Mayes is tasked with finding an office space in Century City and building a team.

Ferguson does executive recruitment as well as compensation, leadership and management consulting.

In addition to its Chicago headquarters, Ferguson also has offices in Charlotte, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

In Southern California, Mayes notes “massive growth” in the last decade with multifamily and industrial operators. He said he expects this growth to continue as well as on the private equity side of real estate.

“We believe that we are in the early stages of another real estate cycle and our business in the human capital space tends to trail transaction activity in the real estate universe,” Mayes said. “It’s early days but even in the last 60 days we’ve seen a pretty significant spike in demand and growth in the pipeline.”

Mayes previously worked with Ferguson in the early 2000s leading up to the financial crisis. In that time, Mayes was transferred to Southern California. Coinciding with Mayes’s departure from the firm in 2009, the L.A. office closed.

Now Ferguson is eager to return to the market.

“(The firm’s founder) has long sought a foothold in Southern California… The goal here in short is to gain market share. It’s hard to compete in Southern California in particular without boots on the ground,” Mayes said.

Ferguson President Graham Beatty is confident Mayes is the right person for the job.

“As the real estate market continues its turnaround, adding Bob to our group of committed professionals will allow us to expand our presence in California and make Ferguson a meaningful competitor throughout the West Coast,” Beatty said in a statement. “Bob’s expertise and strategic approach to client servicing strengthens our position as the premier real estate executive search firm.”