Photo of Jeff Pace by Edward Smith.

After years of passing the title around, the partners at one of the Central Valley’s largest commercial real estate firms have found a new president to steer the ship — former market president of Valley Republic Bank Jeff Pace.

As president, Pace will not be doing sales himself, but rather help manage brokers and onboard new talent for the Central Valley’s No. 2 firm, according to The Business Journal’s Commercial Real Estate Brokers list from May.

Pace comes with an extensive knowledge of the Central Valley and a background in commercial lending and leadership — exactly what the partners wanted, said Bobby Fena, senior vice president and partner with Colliers.

“Preferably, [we wanted] somebody that was local, that had some working knowledge of the real estate business, commission sales and how financing works, because that’s our whole business. And with Jeff, you can check all the boxes off there,” Fena said.

Earlier this year, Tri Counties Bank merged with Bakersfield-based Valley Republic Bank, where Pace was market president. The partners at Colliers had long worked with Pace, being a regular face when seeking out loans for clients. Before Valley Republic, Pace had spent more than 16 years in the commercial lending department of Fresno-based Central Valley Community Bank.

During the merger, he was asked by the team at Colliers if he would continue in the market president position. Curious about the question, Pace found out about the team’s search for a new president. This will be the first time Colliers has had a president that is not also a broker since their founder, Charles Tingey, held the role.

The title of president at Colliers had been one the partners passed around for the years since Tingey retired. He formed the group that was then known as Charles Tingey Associates in 1968. He died in 2015.

A group of 16 partners now own the brokerage that operates under a licensing agreement with Colliers Global Real Estate Services.

Fena, Tingey’s business partner, had stepped into the leadership role for a few years. Another partner then took the role and eventually leadership was divided amongst a partner in each of the three offices —Bakersfield, Fresno and then Pismo Beach. The Pismo Beach office merged with another real estate company earlier this year and relocated to San Luis Obispo. But the partners knew they needed a full-time president. Fena said working with high-profile brokers can sometimes be “like herding cats.”

But once Pace’s name was circulated, Fena said the decision was a quick one.

Commercial real estate is no mystery to Pace, who spent about five years with Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis after graduating from Fresno State. But it wasn’t long before he got into the financing side,

Pace said while there are major differences between his work in banking and that of Colliers, there are also similarities.

While “relationships” is one of the most overused words in business, he believes the importance of the term to be true. Working at a local bank, he developed relationships with all sorts of businesses, including mom-and-pops. At Colliers, relationships have been nurtured over decades.

That’s something he recognized at Colliers and wants to convey to new hires.

“If someone says ‘hey, I need an office building,’ they know who to call. If someone needs a retail building, they know who to call,” Pace said.

Of the 27 agents at Colliers, nearly a dozen has been there more than 40 years, Pace said. One of his responsibilities is to bring new blood to the office. Salary at Colliers is 100% commission. While potential income is lucrative, said Pace, it can take a couple of years to establish a name and a customer base.

“You have to be really, really willing to bet on yourself and your own hustle, but the rewards are huge,” Pace said. “The money that the good guys make — you can’t make that kind of money as a doctor.”

Since coming on, Pace hired Gil Lara, who has a background in multi-family and hospitality — something Fena said the office has been doing “half-assed,” having lacked the personnel with that specialty.

Fena said they would like another two to four people at the office, looking especially for someone with retail experience.

Even with a possible recession looming, Pace said markets in transition keep an agent busy. Tenants may have needs for smaller spaces and agents are needed to help those businesses solve their property needs. But agents will have to be more proactive than they’ve been in the last 18 months, he added.

Now that the pandemic appears to be behind them, it means a return to in-person deals, an essential for real estate agents, Pace said.

“I think that’s important because we are in the go-meet-and-shake-hands kind of business, which really sucked during Covid,” Pace said.

Now Pace is doing his introductory tour, getting out and pressing the flesh. Colliers had a tailgate at the Fresno State football game against University of Nevada, Las Vegas Nov. 11.

“This has been the fit we’ve been looking for and I think it’s going to pay good dividends in the future,” Fena said.