For business owners and family operators making once-in-a-decade real estate decisions. Site selection, market analysis, and succession-related transactions.
Strategic advisory is for the engagements that aren't a typical brokerage transaction. The business owner considering whether to sell the operation and the underlying real estate together. The family that inherited a building and isn't sure whether to hold, lease, or sell. The owner-user contemplating a sale-leaseback to fund growth. The succession-related decision that involves tax, family, and real estate all at once.
These engagements share certain characteristics: they're infrequent, complex, and high-stakes. The decisions aren't reversible, the dollar amounts are meaningful, and the right answer often only becomes clear after looking at options through several different lenses. The cost of getting them wrong is high; the value of getting them right is correspondingly higher.
Kathi takes on strategic advisory engagements selectively, typically through longtime client or referral relationships. Her background — twenty years at top-tier law firms, CCIM certification, deep SGV network, partnership in Team Ukropina — equips her for the technical and relational depth this work requires. Discretion is the operating standard throughout.
Every advisory engagement is unique — the outline below is one example of how an engagement might flow, used here for guidance, not as a fixed protocol. Some steps run in parallel; some don't apply at all; some change shape entirely depending on the situation.
A long, unhurried initial conversation about the situation, the people involved, the constraints, the timeline, and what success would look like. Most strategic advisory engagements crystallize the right approach during this step.
A clear-eyed picture of where you currently stand — property value, tenant situation, market conditions, tax exposure, options realistically on the table. Kathi may draw in tax counsel, legal counsel, or estate planning specialists at this stage if they're not already engaged.
A structured analysis of the realistic options — hold, lease, sell, sale-leaseback, partial sale, ground lease, redevelopment, 1031 into different asset class — with financial modeling and timing implications for each.
A recommended path with the trade-offs explicit. The recommendation may include doing nothing for now, structuring an internal transaction, or proceeding with a specific brokerage engagement. The point is good decision-making, not just transaction generation.
If the chosen path involves a real estate transaction (sale, lease, redevelopment, 1031), Kathi handles execution directly. If the chosen path is non-transactional or involves another specialist (tax counsel, capital-raise, succession attorney), she coordinates the handoff and stays available throughout.
Strategic advisory covers the engagements that aren't typical brokerage transactions. Here's the range of capabilities included.
Long-horizon planning for owners and operators with significant commercial property — what to hold, what to sell, what to develop, what to refinance, and how the real estate strategy fits the broader business or family goals.
For business owners considering an owner-user property purchase, a structured site-selection process covering location criteria, building requirements, financial parameters, and entitlement realities.
Real estate work tied to business or family succession — handing the operation to the next generation, exiting partnerships, structuring family-trust holdings, or planning the eventual disposition of long-held property.
For owners considering whether to keep, sell, or refinance a commercial property — a structured comparison of after-tax outcomes under each scenario, including 1031 exchange paths and market timing considerations.
For owner-occupants who want to monetize the real estate while staying in the building — structuring the sale-leaseback to provide working capital without disrupting operations. Coordinates buyer-side and lease terms.
When the right move is a property purchase, sale, or partnership that doesn't go on the market, Kathi's SGV broker and family-office network supports discreet introductions. Discretion is the operating standard.
Common questions Kathi gets about strategic advisory engagements. For anything specific to your situation, the answer is always: just call.
Strategic advisory is right when the question isn't simply "sell this property" or "find me space" but rather "what should we be doing with this real estate over the next ten years given the business, the family, and the tax picture?" Common triggers include: succession planning, business sale considerations, multigenerational ownership transitions, sale-leaseback evaluations, redevelopment analysis, and any situation where multiple realistic paths need careful comparison before action.
Confidentiality is the operating standard. Most strategic advisory engagements involve information — about the business, the family, the tax situation, the property — that the client doesn't want broadly known. Kathi treats every conversation as confidential by default, signs NDAs without question when requested, and structures her work so that public exposure (listings, marketing) happens only when the client decides it's the right move.
Three differences. First, scope — strategic advisory often covers situations broader than a single transaction, including hold-vs-sell analysis, succession, redevelopment, and multi-decade planning. Second, timeline — these engagements often unfold over months or years, not weeks. Third, compensation structure — because the engagement may not produce a single transaction with a defined commission, fees are structured on an engagement-specific basis, often as a flat advisory fee, retainer, or success-based arrangement tied to the eventual outcome.
The common thread is complexity that goes beyond a single transaction. Family-business owners considering sale of the operation and the underlying real estate together. Multigenerational property owners navigating succession. Founders contemplating sale-leaseback to free up working capital. Owners who inherited commercial property and need to understand their options. Families holding portfolios that need restructuring. Engagements are typically established through longtime client relationships or trusted introductions.
Fees are structured on an engagement-specific basis, transparently and documented upfront. Common structures include: flat advisory fees for defined-scope engagements, retainer arrangements for ongoing strategic work, or success-based fees tied to the eventual transaction or outcome. Kathi will recommend the structure that fits the engagement best and discuss it openly before any work begins.
Yes, when the relationship calls for it. Strategic advisory is often relationship-driven rather than location-driven, and Kathi has worked engagements across LA County and beyond when clients have asked. For execution work outside her core expertise, she draws on Coldwell Banker Commercial's 2,800+ professional network for specialist support, while remaining the client's direct point of contact throughout.
Strategic Advisory is one of four service lines Kathi works across.
Fifteen minutes with Kathi will tell you whether she's the right partner. She answers her own phone, returns calls quickly, and tells the truth — even when it costs her the deal.