SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Irvine Company Office Properties announced today that accomplished real estate executive Hanns Lee has joined as regional senior vice president overseeing the company’s expanding portfolio of office workplaces in Northern California.
Lee brings nearly 20 years of experience in Bay Area real estate and joins the Irvine Company from Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group, where he served as senior vice president and Northern California regional officer since 2011. Prior to Lowe, Lee spent 12 years with Hines Interests, overseeing Northern California acquisitions, entitlement, development, leasing and asset management.
“As we expand with the Bay Area, we are enhancing our regional leadership and are thrilled to have a professional of Hanns’ caliber,” said Doug Holte, president of Irvine Company Office Properties. “Hanns brings critical expertise, invaluable experience and advanced knowledge of the Bay Area real estate market that is well suited to our long-term commitment to the region.”
Since 2011, the Irvine Company has more than doubled its Silicon Valley office portfolio with acquisitions and the recent completion of Santa Clara Gateway, a premier office campus near Levi’s Stadium that has attracted Dell, GlobalFoundries and Arista Networks.
Including projects under way, the Irvine Company’s Bay Area office portfolio now totals more than 5 million square feet with plans for additional expansion. Lee will oversee office portfolio acquisitions, development, reinvestment and operations from the company’s offices in Santa Clara.
“The Irvine Company has been part of the region for nearly 20 years and has overlapped my own career in the Bay Area,” Lee said. “I have watched with admiration how the company has delivered quality customer service, portfolio reinvestment and thoughtful redevelopment projects that address the needs of the region’s companies.”
At Irvine Company Office Properties, Lee will play a leading role in Santa Clara Square, a 1.2 million-square-foot office campus being built alongside the 101 freeway at Bowers Avenue. Designed by renowned New York-based architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Santa Clara Square is being built in phases with occupancy starting in 2015.
Alongside offices at Santa Clara, the Irvine Company is planning an approximately 125,000-square-foot shopping center featuring a specialty grocery store, shops, services and upscale dining with outdoor terraces.
“Santa Clara Square’s pairing of world-class workspace with a fully integrated specialty shopping center makes a powerful statement for employers looking to recruit and retain talent,” Lee said. “The sense of place being created there draws on the Irvine Company’s experience building and running complementary properties.”
A resident of the East Bay, Lee holds a bachelor’s in engineering from Stanford University and a master’s in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. A retired Army Captain, Lee served from 1991 to 1999 and was awarded an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for combat duty in Somalia.
