Located at 1111 Chapala St. in Downtown Santa Barbara, theoffice will be a sister operation to Lee & Associates' San LuisObispo and Santa Maria offices.

"When Bill Lee contacted us and offered a partnership with himin his Central Coast organization, that was a great fit for us,"says Clarke, who partnered with Leider when the two formed theLeider Group, which became Leider Hayes in 2004. "It gave us a verysolid platform to grow our business, with more sophisticatedoperations and added services."

Over the last two decades, Leider and Clarke have becomewell-known brokers in Santa Barbara. Leider has been involved inmajor retail projects from Oxnard to Paso Robles in the lastseveral years with a focus in large retail transactions from landacquisition to lease-up to sale, as well as in investmentproperties. Clarke has earned a reputation in retail and officeleasing, as well as developing a significant sales practice for herinvestment clients. She has worked on many of the largest retaildeals in the area.