CB Commercial scores big in office landlord brokers' category.

CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. dominated the field of top office brokers on the landlord representation side, with three of the five best-performing brokers or teams in L.A. County all working for the giant international brokerage.

CB Commercial's stars included Senior Vice President William Boyd in the company's Glendale office, the second-place finisher with $96.1 million in transactions closed between Oct. 1, 1994 and Sept. 30, 1995; third-place finisher Hunt Barnett, a first vice president in the Century City office who completed $85.6 million worth of transactions in the 12-month period: and Senior Vice President William Peters in the Torrance office, the fifth-place finisher with $67.7 million worth of transactions during the period.

But CB Commercial failed to produce this year's top performer, who turned out to be Senior Vice President Peter Johnston with Maguire Thomas Partners. Johnston completed $115.1 million worth of transactions during the 12-month period. Last year's too finisher, the team of John Ollen and Scott Chalmers, both vice presidents with Premisys Real Estate Group, came in fourth this time around with $82 million in transactions.

Johnston, 41, represents some of downtown L.A.'s premier office towers, including the 1.2 million-square-foot Gas Co. Tower at 555 W. Fifth St. and the 1.3 million-square-foot First Interstate World Center at 633 W. Fifth St. The total dollar value of his transactions would have been even higher except he did not bother to include the deals he brokered at the two 1 million-square-foot office lowers he represents in Philadelphia.

"We've had a terrific run on renewing tenants and expanding existing tenants," said Johnston, a six-year veteran at Maguire Thomas. "We're also very fortunate to have been at the right places at the right time."

Midwestern history

Before moving to L.A. and a career with Maguire Thomas, Johnston worked in Chicago, heading the leasing division of Oxford Properties. The company was acquired after he left by the real estate arm of Montreal, Canada-based phone company Bell Canada. He insisted on crediting his junior partners at Maguire Thomas - who include brokers Sam Halle, Andy Fishburn and Bob McNamara - for his success this year, as well as the tenant brokers who brought in the big deals.

Although the overall vacancy rate is very high for downtown L.A. office buildings, Johnston said the downtown properties he manages are running at an average of about 94 percent occupancy.

"The premier properties will always fill up first in any market," Johnston said.

Boyd, 42, concentrates on major buildings in three submarkets in the eastern San Fernando Valley: North Hollywood, Burbank and Glendale, all hotbeds of leasing activity in recent years from entertainment industry clients. A 14-year veteran with CB Commercial, Boyd worked his way up through the trenches by starting out with small, one- or two-story buildings until he could attract the interest of major properly owners.

"It's all a matter of gaining the respect of clients to the point that credibility is established in the marketplace," Boyd said. "That's the springboard to the next-larger building."

Boyd's major properties include the 270,000-square-foot tower at 801 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale and the 465,000-square-foot Burbank Building at 3900 W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank. He scored a major coup earlier this year by being named leasing agent for the Palladium World Tower, a speculative office project planned to contain 400,000 square feet of space at 655 N. Central Ave. It is scheduled to begin construction in the first quarter of 1996.

Greater opportunities

Before coming to CB Commercial, Boyd spent five years as a media and shareholder representative for Woodland Hills-based defense contractor Litton Industries Inc. He said he got into real estate at the age of 28 because he wanted a job that would allow him to work longer and harder in return for greater compensation.

"There are no time limits or parameters in this business, and that really appeals to me," Boyd said.

Barnett, 37, concentrates on the West Los Angeles market, where he represents about a dozen buildings, including the Northrop Plaza towers at 1800 and 1840 Century Park East, with a combined 547,000 square feet of space. Barnett was fourth on last year's list of top tenant brokers, with $75 million worth of transactions.

"You know, you get a little lucky sometimes," Barnett said, when asked the reason for his recent success. "Two of the biggest factors in the business, I think, are luck and timing. That and a good work ethic and reputation."

Whether his success is due to luck or timing or something else, Barnett scored a major coup this summer when he landed mineral-supplement manufacturer HerbaLife for an 81,000-square-foot deal at 1800 Century Park East.

Barnett said he got into real estate because he didn't know what else to do with a bachelor's degree in American Studies. Several of his fraternity brothers were entering a brokerage training program after college, so Barnett said he thought he'd give it a try.

Towering team

The achievement of Ollen and Chalmers is particularly impressive, considering most other landlord reps are involved with several buildings, while they represent only a single pair of office towers in Century City. Of course, it helps that those towers happen to be some of the premier office properties on the Westside.

Ollen and Chalmers took over responsibility for leasing the combined 2.2 million-square-foot Century Plaza Towers at 2029 and 2049 Century Park East in March 1993, after the properties were foreclosed upon by The Prudential insurance company, of which Premisys is the property management arm. At that time, the buildings were 76 percent occupied.

Through a combination of tenant improvements, concerted marketing and strong relationships with tenant brokers, Ollen and Chalmers have managed to boost occupancy to 88 percent so far. Over the past year, they closed several major renewals and expansions, including a deal with Home Box Office that expanded the company's West Coast headquarters from 58,000 to 78,000 square feet at the towers.

"The cornerstone of our business is having good relationships with the (tenant) brokers," said Ollen, 34.

South Bay stalwart 

"We have now renewed everybody who could potentially move out of this building for the next three years," added 32-year-old Chalmers. "We could potentially be 92 or 93 percent leased next year."

Finally, 56-year-old Peters is something of an institution in the South Bay real estate scene after 23 years with CB Commercial. His success this year might be a surprise, given the softness of the South Bay office market. But Peters said savvy brokers can still pull off big deals even in the worst of times.

"The South Bay is sort of the quiet corner of Los Angeles," Peters said. "Everybody thinks we're a bunch of hicks down here. But the truth is, there's a lot of real estate activity going on."

Low rates are pushing B- and C-class tenants into A-class buildings in the South Bay, Peters said. And brokers like himself, who represent the top properties, are thriving. Meanwhile, most of the South Bay buildings that were carrying serious debt loads already have been foreclosed upon or their loans have been restructured. So the market is more stable now than it was a few years ago. In addition, many brokers have fled the South Bay, meaning the pickings are good for those who remain, he said.

"There are probably half the brokers out here that there were in 1988," Peters said. "What you have now is less brokers doing more business for different owners."

Peters said his greatest coup over the past year was the lease of 272,000 square feet in three buildings on Airport Plaza Drive in Long Beach by McDonnell Douglas Corp., which had moved out of the buildings the previous year.