Broker of the year: R. Todd Doney, senior vice president of Cushman Realty Corp.

R. Todd Doney may or may not be the happiest broker on earth, but working with the Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. during its current rapid expansion phase would put a smile on any broker's face.

Doney, a 33-year-old senior vice president at Cushman Realty Corp., had a smoking year from June 1995 to June 1996, signing a series of high-profile leasing and sales transactions that qualifies him for recognition as L.A. County's Broker of the Year. And many of those deals came from a single tenant: Disney.

Disney has been growing at a blistering pace in recent years, especially in the area surrounding its headquarters in Burbank. It is the largest office tenant in the cities of both Burbank and Glendale, And in the past year, Doney represented the entertainment giant on leases totaling more than 700,000 square feet of space.

The biggest of those deals closed during the first quarter of this year, when Disney took over the entire 192,000-square-foot building at 3110 Thornton Ave. in Burbank. The building had been formerly occupied by Lockheed Martin Corp. for its "Skunk Works" military aircraft operations.

That was followed by a deal that closed in March at 5161 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood, where Disney is leasing about 100,000 square feet.

Two other big Disney deals brokered by Doney were a 152,000-square-foot lease at 611 Brand Blvd. in Glendale that closed in January and the lease of a 120,000-square-foot industrial building that was converted to office uses at 1 W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank, a transaction that closed in July 1995.

Inside connections

Doney attributes his success in getting all this Disney business partially to his boss, John C. Cushman III, who over the years has developed a strong relationship with the company. Because of Doney's expertise in the Tri-Cities market, Cushman assigned the young broker to take over Disney transactions at the beginning of 1995.

"There is no magic to this," Doney says. "You just try to work really hard."

Hard work for Doney translates into long hours. The broker can usually be found in the office before 7 a.m., often leaving as late as 9 p.m. - not to mention the time he puts in on weekends.

"As you continue to work hard, you tend to develop a lot of trust from your clients. That kind of thing builds on itself," Doney says.

Not all of Doney's deals over the past year involved Disney. In May, he helped close the sale of the nine-story Les Bureaux building at 790 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena to Westwood-based Barker Pacific Group for about $10.4 million, representing seller Equitable Real Estate Investment Management.

Real estate sources say Doney is currently working extensively with San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Bank, which became heavily involved with the local commercial market following its acquisition of L.A.-based First Interstate Bancorp this year. Doney declines to discuss his activities with Wells Fargo.

Landlords' perspective

Like many senior-level brokers, Doney represents both landlords and tenants. His premier property on the landlord side is Two California Plaza at 350 S. Grand Ave. in downtown L.A. Over the past year, he has brokered more than 40,000 square feet of deals in the building. And he expects to announce the lease of an additional 200,000 square feet in the 1.2 million-square-foot tower within two or three months.

Although the tenant rep business tends to be more glamorous, Doney says doing landlord work helps him meet important players and understand where the other side is coming from in negotiations.

This is not Doney's first listing among the titans of the local real estate industry; in last year's Who's Who in Commercial Real Estate, the Business Journal profiled Doney as a "rising star."

Doney started his career covering the Tri-Cities market of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena in 1984, fresh out of college. (He majored in real estate at Arizona State University). He moved to Cushman Realty three years later, and began doing deals in downtown Los Angeles as well.

Brokers who have worked with Doney cite his efficiency and ability to clearly explain the deal process to his clients as two of his strongest features.

"Todd is one of the more talented brokers we have the opportunity of working with in this marketplace, and obviously his clients appreciate that as well," says William Boyd Jr., a senior vice president at CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. who has negotiated a number of deals with Doney.