Jim Slaught, an investment specialist with more than 20 years experience acquiring, developing, brokering, leasing and managing shopping centers and other commercial real estate assets throughout California, has joined Lee & Associates Central Coast as principal.
He will be based in the firm’s Santa Barbara office, and will also work closely with the Lee & Associates Investment Services Group, which specializes in investment brokerage and advisory services nationwide.
“We are thrilled to have a commercial real estate veteran of Jim’s caliber join our team,” said Stephen Leider, president of Lee & Associates Central Coast. “His track record and relationships with investors, brokers, lenders and property owners will contribute a fresh perspective to our multidisciplinary approach. He will also be a great asset for our clients as they seek to achieve the highest returns in this very challenging marketplace.”
Throughout his career, Slaught has managed and directed the leasing, acquisition, disposition and development of more than 3 million square feet of properties, valued in excess of $700 million, in California.
Some of his notable transactions in Santa Barbara County include the Pavilion at Paseo Nuevo, the Mesa Center, the Montecito Inn and Town Center West. Within San Luis Obispo County, he has completed repeated transactions on the SLO Promenade, the Higuera Plaza, Pismo Plaza and Atascadero Factory Outlets. Additionally, Slaught has sold and leased centers in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley in Ventura County.
Slaught joins Lee & Associates Central Coast from his director of acquisitions position at LBG Realty Advisors LLC, an opportunistic real estate investment firm specializing in the acquisition of retail assets and distressed debt. Before LBG, he served as vice president, director of acquisitions and asset manager at Investec Commercial Inc., where he was responsible for more than 1 million square feet of shopping center developments and investments throughout California.
A graduate of the University of California, Irvine, with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Slaught is also a licensed real estate broker and an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. He also has served on development boards and finance committees for local private schools and the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara.
“Lee’s entrepreneurial focus, superior resources and network of seasoned professionals with in-depth market knowledge, is just the right platform for me,” Slaught said. “I am excited to be part of the Lee team and build on the firm’s investment sales capabilities, while adding leadership and advice in the areas of leasing, management, development and investments.”
— Natalie Wagner is the marketing director of Lee & Associates Central Coast.