Charlie Smith

Charlie Smith has no small task on his hands overseeing JLL’s brokerage services across five offices and multiple asset classes, but he rolls with the punches.

Smith has proven versatility and the capacity for adaptation since the pandemic made the market extremely unpredictable. Six years on, he sees both office and industrial normalizing from the highest highs and the lowest lows.

“We doubled down on industrial and rode that wave while we were continuing to build our office business, knowing that eventually return-to-office was going to continue to happen,” Smith said. “Industrial was on a wave like we had never seen, evidenced by the fact that rents were tripling in some areas like the Inland Empire. And then, when we saw things level out in industrial, we really saw the benefits of the emphasis we had placed on office.”

Industrial activity is much slower than it was in 2022, but it’s still profitable despite headwinds from tariffs and the decreased shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Tenants, for instance, are taking “shadow space” in anticipation of needing it down the line. Other drivers include high-tech advanced manufacturing.

“I think 2024 and 2025 were the most challenging times in industrial, and then, at the beginning of this year, we’ve been seeing things begin accelerating,” Smith said.

One major deal that Smith credited his team for was the Capital Group’s $210 million acquisition of the Bank of America Plaza in Downtown L.A. in March 2026, which Capital had already occupied. JLL also represented the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in the purchase of an office tower at 865 South Figueroa Street for $95 million, a deal that went to contract in March.

JLL’s tenant representation team under Smith also negotiated on behalf of Innocean USA in a 101,000-square-foot office deal at 888 North Douglas Street in August.