WOODLAND HILLS, CA-Sperry Van Ness has expanded its presence in the San Fernando Valley by opening an office in Warner Center and hiring four brokers from Told Partners to staff the new office.The new Sperry brokers are Jeffrey C. Albee, Dan Powers, Thomas T. McBride and Dan Wakumoto.Those at the new office will report to David Rich, a regional managing director for Sperry, who is based in the firm's West Los Angeles office.

Rich tells GlobeSt.com that Sperry has been wanting to expand its presence in the San Fernando Valley for several reasons. He says the firm sees “enormous potential in the Valley office market” and points out that the new hires will all specialize in office properties, whereas the West L.A. office specializes in apartment and retail deals.

Rich says many of Sperry's clients are apartment owners in 10-31 exchanges who are looking for higher returns than they can find in apartment deals, where cap rates are averaging about 6% to 7%. Office deals, by contrast, are offering cap rates of 9% and 10%.