Danielle Peterson

Danielle Peterson has long been comfortable assessing real estate opportunities in California. She’s been zeroing in on the state since taking real estate courses during her undergraduate education at the University of San Diego and earning an MBA in real estate finance at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. 

“I think I was ultimately drawn to the relationship-building aspect of the business and the individuality of each deal across differing property types, business plans, markets, sponsors and structures, which keeps it exciting,” Peterson said. 

At Ares Management, one of the largest global investment management firms in the nation, Peterson is responsible for sourcing financing opportunities and strengthening both existing and new relationships in the investment space to grow the firm’s private equity and commercial real estate business books. 

Her ability to facilitate relationships across all ladders of the investment chain was honed by a decade in commercial banking, as she spent five years at City National Bank and four years at Mesa West Capital. She said the roles gave her “valuable insight” into the specific operations and processes involved in the world of real estate banking, particularly construction financing.

“I am so grateful for my banking background and those that supported and invested in my career at a young age,” Peterson said. “The fundamentals I learned were foundational to my credit acumen and professional approach to business.” 

Today, Peterson is laser-focused on finding investment opportunities across Los Angeles’ sprawling and fragmented marketplace, a metropolitan statistical area of 18 million people across nearly 34,000 square miles. It’s a region where studios have been institutionalized as an asset class in some neighborhoods, while submarkets like Culver City have been impacted by gentrification and the growth of new office and retail projects amid an evolving media landscape. 

“The region is highly desirable, and there are high barriers to entry, resulting in compelling fundamentals,” she said. “There are many submarkets and even more micro markets in Los Angeles, so it really takes a ‘boots on the ground’ approach to understand the real estate market here.”