Evanco Realty Advisors, Inc.
Entering its 16th year in business, Evanco Realty Advisors, Inc. has more than 100 years of combined experience in all facets of commercial real estate. Founded in 1993 by Craig Evanco, the firm, headquartered in San Diego with offices in Phoenix, specializes in industrial, retail and office real estate investments and development and property management. The company currently manages more than one million square feet of commercial properties throughout California and Arizona.
President and founder Craig Evanco has 33 years of experience and expertise in acquisitions, lease and lease negotiations, asset management, financing and value enhancement of commercial projects. His clients range from large commercial office buildings to shopping centers and investor focused properties.
An interview with Craig Evanco…
With the continued state of the economy such as it is, what challenges has your industry faced over the past several years particularly here in San Diego?
This has been a very difficult time for both landlords and tenants. I personally never thought I’d live to see such a bad downturn, but this has been worse than what we saw in ’88-95 and we aren’t out of the woods yet. What we have been focusing a great deal of our time on recently is renegotiating leases before they expire. Our job is to work with tenants and landlords to arrive at a deal that works for both sides. It’s a delicate balancing act that requires a keen understanding of what each others needs are and working together to reach desired goals.
How has Sullivan Hill been instrumental in assisting your firm with these issues from a legal perspective?
Specifically, David Hopkins, whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with for the past five years, has been instrumental in assisting us in the areas of lease negotiations, contracts and also in litigations matters. While we often create the first draft of documents such as leases, it is important for us to run them past David in order to ensure we have all the important components covered both from a business and legal standpoint. Having a legal mind to bounce ideas off of makes good business sense.
You mentioned that David worked with you on a litigation matter. Can you elaborate?
David was instrumental in a case that continued for nearly 3 and half years. David was always prepared and literally ran circles around the other side’s counsel. He has an uncanny ability to remember facts and details and at times, even “refreshed” the other counsel’s minds about what they and their clients had said years earlier. We felt as though we always had David’s complete attention as though we were his only client, and his professionalism and experience left us knowing we were in expert hands.
How important would you say it is to have legal counsel available when you’re involved in lease negotiations or contract development?
It is imperative. The collaboration of our firm’s business sense with someone like David to get the right legal slant on a document ensures that we’ve covered all the bases and are providing the best service for our clients. David also has the unique ability to look at a situation or a document not just from a legal perspective, but also from a business perspective as well. That is one of his greatest strengths. He always has our best interest in mind whether he’s involved with a deposition, trial or in drafting or reviewing a contract.