Commercial Real Estate Investment Company Younan Properties Still Leasing

Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment firm Younan Properties recently acquired new buildings and new executive team members to continue the company's long-standing tradition of providing good service and lots of options for companies looking for office space. The firm, which has commercial space for lease in Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, added to its ownership at Lakeside Square in Dallas and just bought WarnerView Corporate Center outside of Los Angeles.

These acquisitions bring the company's portfolio of properties to 35 in these major U.S. markets. Companies in these markets will be well situated as the economy swings back to normal throughout the next several years; because of each market's size and standing in the U.S. and even world trade market, they should be among the first to rebound. Los Angeles and Chicago remain major port cities in the U.S. and have continued to encourage business growth and economic development, as have Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, which actually have not been hit as hard by the economy because Texas, with its own large and diverse state economy, hasn't suffered quite as much as other parts of the United States. Phoenix, while it has seen a drop in activity largely because of the housing bubble bursting, should still remain one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation.

These are the markets Younan Properties is offering its tenants. The available office space is unmatched; the 14 properties in Dallas include Thanksgiving Tower and Patriot Tower, both huge, attractive skyscrapers designed by internationally known designers that stand out amidst the Dallas skyline. Houston, Younan Properties' second largest market with 10 properties, has similar offerings that are well situated to travel opportunities, freeways, popular downtown areas and hospital districts. Properties in the other markets, while there are fewer, have the same types of amenities, all designed to attract and keep good tenants.

Younan Properties does not build its own properties; instead, the company focuses on acquiring underperforming properties in key markets, determining what improvements need to be made to guarantee a good experience for tenants while still offering good value to the company and its shareholders, and then managing the building efficiently and responsively so the tenants who have signed leases want to stay. This strategy reaps several benefits, and not just for the company. Tenants have attractive, convenient buildings that potential employees and customers will be able to find easily and will want to come to because of the amenities, and they'll have many of the perks a modern company needs to do business. Neighborhoods and communities will benefit because these buildings that previously were sitting empty will be occupied by prosperous businesses, meaning more people shopping and dining in the surrounding areas, more clients coming to the city to do business and thus spending money in the city, and most likely less crime in these areas because the rate of positive activity has increased.

This focus on economic redevelopment and revitalization of an area and a community is important to Younan Properties. One of its corporate missions is to improve the communities in which it operates, and the executive team and board of directors have that focus when hiring. The recent spate of hires adds to the company's combined expertise in leasing, financing, marketing, property acquisition, asset management, facility operations, property redevelopment and commercial real estate. Those hires include Robert Peddicord hired as the new chief operating officer, Terry Smolich as the new vice president of human resources, Brian Hennessey as the vice president for leasing and Sarah Sadat as the director of finance and treasurer.