Next Generation Takes Shape at LAB Holding

Two years ago, when LAB Holding founder Shaheen Sadeghi accepted the Business Journal’s Family-Owned Business Award with his oldest son, Sebastian, at his side, he said he hoped all three of his children would eventually join the family business. 

That prediction has since become reality. Today, his three sons, Sebastian, Dominic and Nikolai are involved in leadership roles at the Costa Mesa-based real estate developer, and the next generation is beginning to shape how the company grows while preserving its ethos as an incubator for “Little American Businesses.” 

“I think eventually the three of them will be running the organization,” Sadeghi told the audience two years ago. 

Sebastian Sadeghi previously worked at Pimco adjacent to Fashion Island before becoming the current managing director at his father’s firm. 

On his first day, about four years ago, his father told him he had his full trust – then added: “Whatever you do, don’t mess it up,” with a little different terminology, Sebastian said with a laugh. 

Since then, Nikolai joined the firm as director of operations, while Dominic is the director of leasing. 

Shaheen, Sebastian and Nikolai were the keynote speakers for this year’s Family-Owned Business Awards, where they discussed the founder’s transition from action sports to real estate development and how the sons “plan to take the baton” at LAB Holding. 

“The family is the ultimate small business built on trust sustained by shared blood and driven by legacy,” Shaheen said. 

The Ultimate Small Business 

When Shaheen Sadeghi left the action sports industry, he said he learned that as apparel brands grew larger—and some even went public—“the less cool we were.” 

The former Quiksilver president said he wanted to focus on building something rooted in local communities. 

LAB Holding, which stands for “Little American Businesses,” owns and operates some of Orange County’s iconic retail spots, including The Camp and the Anaheim Packing District food hall. He is the visionary behind the much-copied The Lab anti-mall in Costa Mesa, which he no longer owns. 

Rather than pursuing “homogenized” national retailers, the company has built its projects around independent businesses curated by the LAB team. 

“And we have a great 30-year track record of doing that,” Sebastian said. 

The company has completed nearly 50 projects in total since its founding in 1993, with six more in the works. 

Shaheen Sadeghi noted that LAB’s retail centers still have tenants from day one. 

“I view LAB as having a double bottom line. One of the bottom lines is all about community,” Nikolai said. 

Nikolai joked that he and his brothers are often the ones emphasizing cash flow and financial sustainability, while their father remains focused on the company’s broader mission. 

Shaheen does acknowledge that the LAB’s business model will evolve under his sons’ leadership. When it comes to the founder’s traditional philosophy of “slow growth,” Shaheen said that the next generation “will maintain that strict DNA filter, but they will be more transactionally active.” 

Sebastian said LAB would still choose a small local business with a modest balance sheet over a national tenant willing to pay significantly higher rent. 

“They are looking at a quicker turnaround in the development cycle,” Shaheen said, also noting the “rapidly changing retail, entertainment, and hospitality landscape” that presents different challenges compared to when he started LAB. 

“The boys will scale our acquisition and development pace, taking the models we have perfected over three decades and executing them with greater velocity,” Shaheen said. 

Nikolai said the brothers are looking to evolve the tenant portfolio while still “keeping our creative identity.” 

“I think the balancing of being our best creative selves while allowing for the low hanging fruit to be taken care of, those are very mutually symbiotic and something we hope to do more of moving forward,” Sebastian added.