Bozzuto Joins Firms Expanding to the West Coast

Property management company Bozzuto is planning to expand to the West Coast this year, and it has hired industry veteran Heather Wallace to lead the expansion. Wallace joins the firm as managing director of client services.

Bozzuto’s westward expansion is part of the firm’s national growth plans. In the West, it will focus on gateway markets, specifically those in California and Washington. It currently operates in 11 markets, including East Coast, Chicago and Milwaukee.

Wallace joins the firm from Sares Regis Group, where she was responsible for growing the firm’s property management division and driving growth in the Western US. She has 20 years of experience working across the real estate industry, including operations, acquisitions and development. Wallace will leverage that experience to build a national presence and business development strategy at Bozzuto, as well as lead growth into new markets.

The West Coast has been identified as a growth region for many market segments. Earlier this month, for example, Elion Partners announced plans to expand in the West Coast with a series of strategic acquisitions, targeting Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, much like Bozzuto. Elion kicked off its expansion plans with the purchase of a 114,000-square-foot last-mile logistics facility for $27.7 million.

In addition, Baltimore-based Whitebox has signed a 350,000-square-foot lease at Golden Triangle Logistics Center in North Las Vegas to expand into the West Coast. The facility will serve as the firm’s anchor in the region; it chose the Las Vegas location for its attractive real estate costs, access to labor and proximity to the ports in California.

Alma Cuevas, director at Cushman & Wakefield who represented the tenant in the transaction, said that there is a growing trend of East Coast companies moving into Las Vegas as a gateway to the rest of the US. “Our team has represented companies from Maryland, New Jersey, Minnesota, Indiana, and California. Aside from a pro-business environment, Vegas services more than 10 major cities, or 60 million consumers, within a one-day drive. We’re also 4 hours closer to the Pacific Northwest than Phoenix,” he said in an interview with GlobeSt.com.

Bozzuto believes this West Coast expansion will help the brand build a national presence, and calls the expansion an exciting next-step in the company’s 33-year history.