It didn’t take Kevin Hayes long to reach the top.
Last year, his brokerage in Newport Beach became an affiliate of New York-based Cresa Partners LLC. Earlier this month, Hayes was named chief executive of Cresa.
Hayes said the brokerage, which represents tenants looking for space, blends a nationwide network with local partnerships in a structure similar to national law firms.
“The majority of profits reside in field operations,” Hayes said.
Hayes, 49, said he plans to dedicate most of his time to the national side of the business. Cresa employs about 650 workers in 47 North American offices. Its coverage spans 32 countries and more than 125 cities via international affiliates.
“I already have begun traveling to various offices,” Hayes said.
He hopes to help other offices hit growth targets and promote the Cresa name, Hayes said.
Up until last year, Hayes had a licensing deal with Dallas-based Staubach Co., which also represents tenants.
Hayes is set to compete on a national scale with his mentor, Roger Staubach, a former quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Staubach has 1,200 workers in about 60 offices in the Americas.
“There’s plenty of room for both organizations to grow and thrive,” Hayes said. “I’m proud of my prior association with Staubach Co. They remain a fine firm.”
Shopping Center Buys
Costa Mesa-based Donahue Schriber Realty Corp. recently added more than 425,000 square feet of retail space to its portfolio with acquisitions in Bakersfield and Roseville.
It bought The Marketplace, a 300,000-square-foot center in Bakersfield, for $84.5 million from a unit of Los Angeles-based Castle & Cooke Inc.
The Marketplace is anchored by Vons, Rite-Aid and a 14-screen Edwards Stadium Theatre.
Donahue has another neighborhood center in Bakersfield as part of its 71-center portfolio.
The second acquisition was a 127,000-square-foot neighborhood center in Roseville, which Donahue acquired for $41.5 million from a private partnership.
Highland Crossing Shopping Center sports a Safeway and Longs Drugs. The 14-acre project was built in 2003.
“Both of these acquisitions are consistent with our goals of owning well-positioned, grocery-anchored centers that are first or second in their market,” said Dave Mossman, vice president of development for Donahue Schriber, in a statement. “Even though the Marketplace includes lifestyle tenants among its roster, we feel that having the ‘weekly needs’ tenants helps successfully marry two different concepts.”
William Lyon really is funny.
I’d heard that Lyon, head of Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes Inc., could crack up an audience. And he fired off one-liners during a recent real estate summit put on by Newport Beach’s Buchanan Street Partners at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach.
Robert Brunswick, chief executive of Buchanan, asked Lyon about the company’s recent wild stock run-up and comedown, and his failed bid to take the homebuilder private.
“Before I start I want to make sure the ringing in my ears doesn’t bother anyone here,” Lyon said.
Lyon said a special committee never made a counter proposal to his $82 per share offer for the rest of the company he doesn’t already own.
He said the stock shot up when analyst JMP Securities gave the builder a “strong buy” rating. JMP became the first analyst to cover the company and release a rating to the public.
“The only one who has ever followed us is the banker,” Lyon said.
Lyon said he couldn’t make another offer for the skyrocketing shares, which peaked at $165 last month.
“We have a great company,” Lyon said. “Modesty keeps me from telling you how great it really is.”
Also on the panel was George Argyros, head of Costa Mesa’s Arnel & Affiliates, and Robert Maguire, chairman and co-chief executive of Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties Inc.
Buchanan’s Brunswick asked the panelists if real estate, especially commercial real estate, is in a typical cycle or if there is a fundamental shift under way to justify falling yields and rising prices.
Argyros, an owner of apartments and commercial space, was the only bearish voice.
“I’m concerned it’s been overheated for quite a while,” he said. “I personally don’t think we are going to have very low rates forever.”
A decades-old veteran here, Lyon said he sold homes when mortgage rates were at 20%. He said a big factor in price increases is the dwindling land supply here and in Las Vegas, which is surrounded by government and Indian land.
Maguire said there is some risk from rising interest rates but he is bullish on Orange County, where his company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in acquisitions.
At one point, Argyros pressed his co-panelists with the question: “Where are we in the cycle?”
Maguire shot back, “Halfway through.”
Lyon: “I don’t know if it’s the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning.”
