Commercial real estate brokerage Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura has promoted four agents to principal status, growing its team of senior brokers to 29. Cheri Blessing and Jared Smits are now principals at Lee & Associates’ Calabasas office while Cole Martens and Hunter Warner will be principals at Lee’s Sherman Oaks office. Blessing specializes in retail and commercial sales and leasing, and Smits’ focus is office sales and leasing. In Sherman Oaks, Martens specializes in investment while Warner’s expertise is in the industrial market. Lee & Associates operates under an ownership model whereby the agency is owned by its principal brokers. Agents must exhibit superior transactional performance and leadership qualities to achieve principal status. “We are fortunate to have so much talent in our ranks and to be able to bolster our team from within,” Mike Tingus, president of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, said in a statement. “These four agents have played a meaningful role in our success this past year, and we are confident that, with these expanded responsibilities, they will distinguish themselves even more.” With nearly four decades in the industry and more than 900 brokers at locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, Lee & Associates is the largest broker-owned firm in North America.
