DENNIS SMITH
Managing Principal; Market Leader
Cresa
Dennis Smith is a managing principal, market leader for the Greater Los Angeles Region of Cresa, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties. In his role, Smith leads over 50 professionals within several regional offices, while meeting the needs of Cresa’s clients. Smith’s consulting services have resulted in transactions exceeding 15 million square feet, including acquisition and disposition projects for leased, owned, and build-to-suit facilities as well as multi-location portfolio corporate services transactions.
Smith is known as an effective industry leader with a more than 35 year track record in helping a wide variety of corporate, public and nonprofit users of office and industrial space execute their real estate plans nationwide. Smith has represented hundreds of organizations, including the County of Los Angeles, Meritage Homes, Manufacturers Bank, Telehouse America and Wells Fargo Bank.
View this article in the Los Angeles Business Journal.
LAWSON MARTIN
Managing Principal; Market Leader
Cresa
Lawson Martin joined Travers Realty in late 1985 following six years of engagement with a landlord broker in Century City where he worked on the listing team for the Century Plaza Towers amongst other assignments. During the next 40 years he became an expert in large local tenant representation assignments focusing on advocating only on behalf of tenants and occupiers throughout Southern California. That success led to doing national and regional account work focusing on portfolio optimization for major companies such as TCW, SunAmerica, KB Home, Colony Capital, Shell Oil, Ryland Homes, Meritage Homes, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate Entertainment.
Following decades of working closely with Jim Travers, Martin was eventually given certain management responsibilities which led to being names CEO in 2010. In 2019 Lawson and his partner Dennis Smith successfully completed the transfer of ownership and control of Travers Cresa which then became Cresa.
View this article in the Los Angeles Business Journal.
JAMES TRAVERS
Principal
Cresa
James Travers, the principal of Cresa, has overseen negotiations for over 200 million square feet of commercial real estate transactions on behalf of tenants, exceeding a remarkable $12 billion, all while exclusively advocating for tenants. He is frequently called upon by clients, fellow brokers and industry experts for his opinions on complex litigation, lease negotiations, and to provide clarity on intricate industry matters. He has been a keynote speaker on a multitude of real estate panels, and has been awarded and honored on many real estate occasions. His market expertise, creative deal-making skills and keen knowledge of the art of negotiation have maintained his position at the forefront of the industry.
In addition to his commercial real estate success, Travers is one of the founders of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) and a Member of the Executive Committee, Governing Board at FIDM.
View this article in the Los Angeles Business Journal.
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