Shelton fills a position that was left vacant about six monthsago when Steve Donohue left the company. The new president ofWestern National Property Management says that the Irvine-basedfirm views this as an opportune time to grow its propertymanagement operations because the current market has created "anincreased focus on property operations and trying to grow revenueswhile trimming expenses" on the part of apartment owners.

Shelton, who is relocating to Southern California from Phoenix,tells GlobeSt.com that the firm will capitalize on its existingpresence in Southern and Northern California and also will look toexpand in the Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas markets via therelationships Shelton has developed in those markets over the past25 years. "We also know that Western National has existing clientsthat have assets in those markets, and there has never been thefocus on expanding the third-party business to those markets thatthere will be now," Shelton says.

Of the 20,000 units that it manages, Western National owns abouttwo-thirds and manages the remainder for other owners. The companyexpects the growth in its third-party units under management tocome from a number of sources: Owners who have been managing theirown units but realize that they need a professional manager, ownersthat have relied on other third-party managers and are looking fora change, and existing clients of Western National that acquire ordevelop new units. In times like these, Shelton observes, propertyowners look for higher quality managers as well as firms that canprovide a full range of services, such as underwriting andacquisition assistance, financial analysis, consulting, duediligence, property management, renovation and rehabilitation,maintenance, landscaping and other services.