Penny Mendlovic

Interviewed by Brian Sodoma

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 2:56 p.m.

Her colleagues refer to her as the “retail diva,” and local media sometimes call upon her for her local retail market expertise. With more than a decade of retail leasing experience in the valley, Penny Mendlovic has represented higher-profile landlords and tenants, such as Whole Foods Marketplace, Italian restaurant concept Buca di Beppo, Harsch Investment Properties and the Merrill Group of Cos., to name only a few.

But Mendlovic, a senior associate with CB Richard Ellis’ Retail Services division, points to her early years in the fashion apparel industry in New York and Los Angeles as the building blocks for a successful real estate career.

When did you start in real estate?

I started in 1994 in Chicago. I moved back here in 1996, and I’ve been full-time locally in commercial real estate since February 1997, specializing in retail.

What made you gravitate toward retail?

My background always was retail since I was 14 years old. … My mother was a clothing designer; I ran a boutique in California. I was a buyer for a manufacturer.

When I moved here in 1992, I was working at The Forum Shops (at Caesars) when I met a developer from Chicago. … (Then) I sold high-rise condos on the Magnificent Mile and (Chicago’s) Gold Coast.

For personal reasons, I came back to the West Coast. As fate would have it, NAI (Horizon) was starting a new internship for commercial brokers. … They were looking for interns for retail, office and industrial. They noticed my retail experience on my résumé and thought I would be a good fit. I interned for Kathy Campbell and Janet Goldstein for a year, then I went out on my own. I’ve always done retail, because of my background in the clothing industry.

Is there a certain area of town or retail product in which you specialize?

The valley is not big enough to work on just one portion. I really do the whole valley and all the trade areas. But I’ve always specialized in retail landlord and tenant representation. … The way CB Richard Ellis is set up, our private client group takes care of assets, say, if an owner wants to sell. Then our team of three (Retail Services) do landlord and tenant representation.

We’re starting to hear more about a coming commercial foreclosure wave. What does this mean for the consumer, business owner and the time frame for economic recovery?

Our private client group is tracking this in a really aggressive way right now. The majority of this (distressed) product will hit by mid-July, when it will be more transparent for owners and tenants. … Certainly, foreclosures will bring the opportunity for new investors to come into the market, and they’re going to reset the market, because clearly we could not sustain 3- and 4-dollar (per square foot) rents for the long term. It will create a better momentum for tenants and owners to get into the game at more realistic rental rates, where they should’ve been in the first place.

What is the retail leasing climate like today, as opposed to only one or two years ago?

It’s clearly challenging right now. There’s no doubt that everyone is feeling the slower activity, especially the mom-and-pop-type centers. A lot of these operators could open on lines of credit or with home equity. Since that’s not there, leasing has definitely taken a big hit. Activity in the mid- to junior-box sites is a little stronger. … When the market is trying to right itself, tenants know. So (owners) have to factor in aggressive lease rates, tenant improvements, concessions and discounts. … We’re busy and working harder than ever. … I was always a person that believed customer service is the only way to make it in this business. You put your clients first. I built my whole business on my own personal reputation. Now, more than ever, it’s back to basics. That’s the most important thing that’s happening right now.