Cassidy Turley Continues National Expansion into L.A.

LOS ANGELES-Cassidy Turley has opened an office in L.A. and has hired a team of industry veterans. Jonathan Larsen will head the office as regional managing principal, Suzanne Lee and Eric Moore join as managing directors, and Katie Bernhisel joined as vice president.

According to a prepared statement, this initial group will establish and lead Cassidy Turley’s growth in Los Angeles. “With these key additions to our team, Cassidy Turley is executing one of its major strategic initiatives by developing a presence in the Los Angeles market. It was important to find the right people to lead this office, since Los Angeles is a critical market for our clients,” explains Mark Burkhart, CEO of Cassidy Turley, in a prepared statement.

“Cassidy Turley’s growth strategy is selective, thoughtful and client-led and we recognize the quality and sophistication that clients demand in Los Angeles. With Jonathan’s leadership and the team’s deep local market knowledge, we will leverage our robust platform to build a full-service office that delivers our best-in-class services,” he adds.

Los Angeles is the second largest metro in the U.S. in terms of total employment, employing 3.8 million people in 2011, according to a prepared statement. It is also the sixth largest office market—195.6 million square feet—and is the largest industrial warehouse market in the country—811.5 million square feet. Larsen and his team will be focused on recruiting to support this expansive market, says a prepared statement.

Larsen explains that “After learning more about Cassidy Turley, I discovered we share many of the same corporate and institutional clients. But perhaps what attracted me most to the company and its leadership is that we share the same values and culture.” He adds that he admires the firm’s commitment to client service and quality execution as well as its focus on market, industry and community leadership.

According to Burkhart, the firm aims to have a leadership presence in all of the markets it serves. “Establishing our position in L.A. will complement our leadership positions in San Diego and Northern California.” 

Larsen, Lee, Moore and Bernhisel all most recently worked in Transwestern’s Los Angeles office, where Larsen oversaw the west region brokerage group.  The team was focused on tenant advisory, agency leasing and investment sales. “Jonathan Larsen is a talented broker. I enjoyed working with Jonathan and his team and wish them all the best,” George Garfield, president of Transwestern, tells GlobeSt.com when asked about the team’s move.