San Diego a Growth Market for Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
CARDIFF – Cresa, a commercial real estate brokerage based in Chicago, is making a push to expand its presence in San Diego and Orange counties with the appointment of JP Roach as executive managing principal and market leader for the two markets.
The move is part of Cresa’s overall drive to expand its California operations. Roach, a lawyer, was executive managing director of Savills before joining Cresa.
“JP joins us at a time of strategic growth and expansion in California,” Cresa Chairman Gary Gregg said in announcing Roach’s appointment.
The brokerage opened a San Diego County office in Cardiff four years ago and is looking to double the 15-member staff in the county, as well as in Orange County, where it has a staff of 12, according to Roach.
“Now is a great time to be doubling down for growth. When the market’s a little bit slow, we want to be investing in our people, investing in our offices, Roach said. “For us, as an organization, San Diego has really become a hot spot on our map for growth. It has a fantastic eco-system for tech, life science, biotech and the all the professional services around them.”
Roach said that the two markets that he oversees, San Diego and Orange counties, “are different in the sense that San Diego is dominated by the life science and biotech communities.”
“There are life science and biotech companies in Orange County, but it’s not as built out and concentrated,” Roach said.