Karinna Cassidy, CPM
President
Karinna Cassidy, a Certified Property Manager, has been blazing the way for women in the commercial real estate, property management, and consulting industry for more than twenty years. Her role within the R7 team is to align the company, both internally and externally, with its strategic vision. In her former role as President and Founder of C-Lease Real Estate, and ACRE Solutions, Karinna built a highly successful property management and real estate consulting business as well as developed and administered a state-of-the art parking revenue auditing software system.
Born and raised in Northridge, California, Karinna is of Argentine descent. While a teenager, she lived in Argentina for a few years. As a result, she is fluent in Spanish, a definite advantage when doing business in Southern California. Karinna says her years in Argentina helped her appreciate what the United States has to offer to those who work hard and stay focused. Karinna is no stranger to hard work; her father was a chemist and scientist who has many patents to his name, and her mother worked in the cosmetics industry until she became a full-time domestic engineer (wife and mother) raising Karinna, her brother and sister.
Karinna says she always knew she wanted to work in the Real Estate Industry because it was part of the fabric of her childhood. She has vivid memories of weekends spent at her father’s office when he was a part time Realtor, selling homes to Spanish-speaking buyers. Helping him with paperwork on the weekends was Karinna’s first training ground. While a student at Cal State Northridge, a guest speaker mesmerized her finance class with stories about the rewards of Industrial Real Estate, and how he arrived at his success. What “sealed the deal” for her, Karinna distinctly remembers is when he told the students there were few women in the Industry because it was a “dog eat dog” environment. Karinna was hooked, and she never looked back! As she says today, “Thank you, guest speaker!”
Karinna says the beauty of Commercial Real Estate is that every day offers a new challenge, and a fresh opportunity to use all the skills she has acquired from formal academics to good old-fashioned “street smarts.” The 1994 Northridge Earthquake tested all those skills early on in her career, when Mother Nature brought chaos to a normally ordered business. Karinna passed the test with aplomb.
In a business that has been like a high-speed rollercoaster for the past few years, Karinna has been enjoying the ride. Karinna is an innovator, developing new and more creative ways to service clients and protect assets. She is optimistic about the future of the commercial real estate industry, saying perseverance; knowledge, experience and creativity will prevail when trying to emerge from this difficult market.
When asked to recall one of the greatest highlights of her career, Karinna points with pride to the year she was selected one of Southern California’s Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate. She says winning this title exposed to her a large and diverse network of incredible women in the Real Estate Industry.
Karinna and her husband, Mike, are parents to two young daughters. The family are avid soccer enthusiasts, and very much involved in the community. Karinna is an AYSO Select Team Coach and functions as the team manager for a Fram CQ club team. She also serves on the AYSO Region 10 Board.
The family also enjoys pets, and has in their menagerie a dog, two cats, a hamster, and a guinea pig. Karinna says between monitoring homework, attending school functions, soccer games and adding in some cuddle time for her husband and the girls, her life is very full and fulfilling.
BUSINESS
- C LEASE REAL ESTATE, INC. - Los Angeles, CA
President and Founder
2000 - 2010
- ACRE SOLUTIONS - Los Angeles, CA
President and Founder
2000 - Present
- TRAMMELL CROW COMPANY - Los Angeles, CA
Vice President – Director of Asset Management
1992 - 2000
- NUWEST COMMERCIAL REALTY SERVICES - Los Angeles, CA
Real Estate Broker -1990-1991
- LASALLE PARTNERS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED - Chicago, IL & Los Angeles, CA
Property Manager & Leasing Specialist - 1987 - 1990
AFFILIATIONS
- Member, Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM)
- Member, Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA)
- Board Member, AYSO Region 10
EDUCATION
- California State University, Northridge
Bachelor of Science, Real Estate & Finance - Certified Property Manager (CPM)
- Licensed Real Estate Broker
- Bilingual – English & Spanish
