The Current State and Future of LA Office

Jeff Grasso is the Founder & Managing Partner of Vesta where he is responsible for the firm’s management & strategy, investment implementation, and investor relations. Before launching Vesta, Jeff was Senior Vice President and Head of Acquisitions at Silverstein Properties, Inc., where he was responsible for sourcing, capitalizing, and executing over $10 billion of acquisition, development, and corporate investments in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Prior to joining Silverstein, Jeff worked in the portfolio management group of ING Clarion Capital, a $5 billion AUM real estate credit opportunity fund. He was responsible for the acquisition and asset management of an ABS portfolio in addition to acquiring and originating high yield whole loans. Jeff holds a B.S. in Accounting, Finance, and Real Estate from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. He resides in Salt Lake with his wife where he enjoys fly fishing, whitewater rafting, and embraces a “pay it forward” mentality with the local Utah community.

Clare De Briere is a native Angeleno and has spent her career creating special places for the citizens and visitors of Los Angeles. Clare joined The Ratkovich Company as a summer intern in 1991 after graduating from UCLA and worked her way through property management, leasing, construction, financing and development management while earning her graduate degree at USC's prestigious Lusk Center for Real Estate. In her career with the company she has overseen the acquisition, entitlement, planning, development and/or disposition of millions of square feet from The Wiltern Theatre, 5900 Wilshire, 800 Wilshire, The Alhambra, The Hercules Campus in Playa Vista and, most recently, The Bloc in downtown Los Angeles. Clare retired from the Company after 26 years, the last decade of which she spent as its Chief Operating Office and Executive Vice President. She remains affiliated with the Company through its Advisory Board. Clare and her husband, Chef Christopher Barnett, have started a new company, C+C Ventures, a Los Angeles based experience company to develop places that inspire creativity, curiosity and delight whether through a wonderful neighborhood restaurant or a fantastic renovated work or living space. Clare is an active member of the Urban Land Institute serving on the National Advisory Committee for Building Healthy Places and Building Healthy Corridors, and on the Los Angeles District Council'€™s Executive Committee and Advisory Board. She has served on a ULI Advisory Panel in the City of Denver and on a local Technical Assistance Panel for the Huntington Hospital and Cal Poly Pomona. She has been named on the Los Angeles Business Journal's Women Making a Difference list and has been on the Real Estate - Southern California's Women of Influence list every year since 2003. Clare is also on the Advisory Board of the UCLA History Department; and served on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Los Angeles Conservancy.

James is an Executive Vice President located in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Los Angeles corporate office, where he focuses on tenant and landlord representation services in the Los Angeles area. James advises clients on a full range of real estate services including portfolio and leasing strategy, space acquisition, disposition and occupancy analysis, and cost savings strategies. James has a dynamic professional background that includes 25 years of experience in real estate brokerage leadership, agency leasing, tenant representation, corporate services, real estate development, and law. This breadth of experience allows James to provide clients with strategies that offer cost savings and value for a broad range of transactions such as leases, building and land acquisitions, and property dispositions. James returned to JLL after leading seven brokerage offices in the Los Angeles region for a global real estate services firm overseeing 90 real estate professionals James was responsible for business planning and client pursuit with individual brokers and brokerage teams, recruiting and training brokers, enhancing the office culture, and implementing company initiatives. Previously, he was the Vice President of Leasing for Brookfield Properties’ Downtown LA office portfolio, which consisted of 8.5 million square feet of Class A office buildings. At Brookfield, James developed and successfully implemented leasing strategies and marketing campaigns for Trophy assets including community, tenant and broker engagement events, building tours and presentations, and negotiating leases from initial proposal through execution. He began his real estate career with Catellus Development Corporation and was responsible for the marketing and leasing of Union Station in Los Angeles and the Mission Bay project in San Francisco. James is also a lawyer having practiced commercial litigation with Haight, Brown & Bonesteel.

Ryan Tucker is a Director with Ocean West Capital Partners and oversees Ocean West’s office investment activities, with an emphasis on core-plus, value-add and opportunistic strategies. He also performs an integral role in developing and maintaining Ocean West's institutional relationships. Since joining the company in 2010, Ocean West has completed nearly $2.0 billion of acquisitions of both office and multifamily properties throughout the country. Prior to joining Ocean West, Mr. Tucker was an Acquisitions Associate at Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, the real estate investment subsidiary of MassMutual Life Insurance Company, where he was responsible for sourcing new acquisitions of various property types including office, apartment, retail, and industrial properties. Prior to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, he was an Assistant Vice President with Nomura Securities where he was responsible for originating and underwriting new commercial real estate loans. He helped to originate over $5 billion of loans and also opened up the company’s office in San Francisco. Mr. Tucker is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and received his Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Lois is a champion of design and an accomplished leader in innovative workplace strategies and transformational interior architectural experiences. In her role as Director and Global Interiors Practice Leader, she directs design, client development, and strategic growth in the firm. With more than 20 years of experience, Lois fosters a culture of design excellence and high performance outcomes. Lois is regarded as a results-oriented, performance focused leader with a remarkable portfolio of award-winning, precedent-setting projects.

Brian Kang, Chair of Greenberg Glusker’s Real Estate Group, has experience in a wide range of real estate transactions, including the acquisition, disposition, financing, and leasing of commercial, retail, multifamily, and industrial properties. Brian’s clients include real estate investors, developers, financial institutions, national universities, and REITS. Brian is also active within the Los Angeles community. He currently represents the Korean American National Museum on a pro bono basis as the museum’s real estate counsel. Brian has also been on the Board of Governors for the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California since 2013 and served as President of KABA-SoCal in 2018. Recognized for his work in Real Estate Law, Brian has been recognized in the Best Lawyers in America list since 2018 and in Southern California Super Lawyers since 2013. In 2021, Brian was also selected to Los Angeles Times’ Commercial Real Estate Visionaries List: Professional Service Advisors.