Lee & Associates, a broker-owned commercial real estate firm, has opened a property management subsidiary within its Pasadena office. The team will service the Los Angeles, Orange County and San Bernardino markets – with the goal of assisting agents’ buyers and alleviating stress off landlords.
“We look at ourselves as advisers to our clients to help them grow their asset,” Christopher Larimore, the founding principal of the Lee & Associates – Pasadena brokerage and president of the newly formed Lee & Associates Pasadena Commercial Property Management company, said. “One of the problems with people that I notice when I do commercial real estate is that, a lot of times, they sell their buildings out of frustration because they’re not happy with the management.”
Larimore, a building owner himself, said that he’s dealt firsthand with the grievances of third-party management – including managers not paying off mortgages and letting certain utility bills slide. Ultimately, it was his own experiences, coupled with stories from clients of his, that inspired this new arm.
Since soft launching the subsidiary in September, the company has onboarded Tish Childs to serve as its new director of property management and taken on four listings, with three more coming online the first week of January, spanning a variety of asset types – including multifamily, office, retail and industrial.
“We’ll manage something that’s 1,000 square feet to a high rise in downtown Los Angeles,” Larimore said. “We’re all about creating relationships with clients and that’s the main thing. We look at ourselves as advisers as well as managers.”
For now, Childs will be the direct contact for each property, but, as the number of listings increases, the goal is for the team to expand as well.
“Chris started the company, and it was his vision,” Childs, who previously served as portfolio manager for Carthay-based Kape Property Management, said. “My goal is to ensure his vision comes to par. My goal is to grow this company from one little asset to a number we can’t count. I want to ensure that we leave this space a lot better than we found it, which is property management in general.”
Bridging brokerage and property management
Unlike other brokerages which operate under one umbrella, Lee & Associates functions as a collective group of independent broker-owned and operated companies. Although the Pasadena office isn’t the first to open its own property management company, it is the first Lee & Associates property management company to open west of the Mississippi River – something both Larimore and Childs hope inspires other offices.
“The Lee & Associates Pasadena office has demonstrated exceptional growth and leadership in a highly competitive market,” Jeffrey Rinkov, chief executive of Lee & Associates, said in a statement. “The addition of a property management team to their talented broker roster further strengthens their stature as a best-in-class full-service commercial real estate resource.”
As the subsidiary is still in its infancy, Larimore said his priorities are building up its client base and expanding its portfolio but, long term, he shared aspirations of one day venturing into acquisitions and, eventually, maybe even development.
“Commercial real estate should be something that people strive to own and have more of,” Larimore said. “If we have a good management company, which we do, we advise them how to grow their asset. We take a lot of the stress off them by being their managers and their advisers and then hopefully they’ll decide to buy more property. That’s our main goal is to just grow people’s net worth as opposed to selling (a property) and having a bad experience with it.”
