Keller Williams Realty International hosted a grand opening party on June 1 to celebrate its new location at 845 Via de la Paz.
Rick Cunningham, owner and investor of multiple Keller Williams offices through California and Hawaii, said that 22 agents will have their offices in the completely renovated second floor of the building (above the former All-Pro Health store).
“On the ground floor, we will have a coffee shop/café that will be open to the public,” Cunningham said. “There are plans to install high-end Internet, so that this will be a place that residents can visit when they’re in the business district.”
Currently, the company is in the permit process with the city.
The Palisades KW offices had originally been located at Sunset Boulevard and PCH in the Spectrum building. “This is a much better location,” said Cunningham, a Santa Monica resident, who is also the owner/ CEO of the Cunningham Group.
Cunningham, who has a degree in landscape architecture, with an emphasis in urban planning from Syracuse, earned an MBA at the University of Georgia. He moved to Los Angeles and was among the seven core agents to open DBL Beverly Hills (now Sotheby’s International).
He was KW’s first core agent in the Hollywood Hills offices. Subsequently, he cofounded two offices in Los Feliz and Santa Monica. Since then he has become the owner/investor of Keller Williams Marina del Rey, Westide/L.A., Newport Estates, Brentwood Estates and Pacific Palisades, amassing an agent base of 850 residential and commercial agents.
In 2000, Palisadian Jeff Lemen (who is also a Palisades High School grad) joined Cunningham and currently serves as the chief operating partner of the Cunningham Group.
“We’re one of the few agencies that deal in both commercial and residential real estate,” Cunningham said.
He introduced the Palisades News to Kimberly Stepp, who has lived in the Palisades with her husband, Robert, since 2011. Their company is Stepp Commercial and Kimberly specializes in multi-family apartment buildings. She will work in the Via office while her husband remains in the Santa Monica office.
The opening ceremony featured champagne, Moscow Mules, wine and beer and appetizers from Venice Beach Wine Bar.
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