New COO and CFO named by Westwood Financial

Westwood Financial, an operator of more than 125 neighborhood and community centers, welcomed two new members into its C-suite this week.

Lauren Ball, head of leasing at the Los Angeles-based company for the last two years, now has taken over as CEO Mark Bratt’s chief operating officer. And Juyuan Wei, who directed finance and accounting at Westwood since 2020, is Westwood’s new chief financial officer.

“These well-deserved promotions come at a time when Westwood is achieving record performance with the portfolio showing steady annual growth and a fully engaged team of employees,” Bratt said. “A good portion of our ongoing success is due to these leaders’ impressive depth of knowledge in their fields.

In 2022, Westwood executed 92 new leases totaling 246,000 sq. ft. and 177 renewals covering 743,000 sq. ft.  Its cross-portfolio occupancy rate is 94.3%.

“The fourth quarter was very active for Westwood from a transactional and leasing perspective,” Bratt said. “It was highlighted by the acquisition of The Shops at Walnut Creek, which is the dominant retail center along the Denver-Boulder turnpike, and the lease-up of our first successful investment property launch on the CrowdStreet platform named Village at Peachtree Corners.”

Bratt noted that Wei’s dedication to a flexible debt structure has allowed Westwood to capitalize on such opportunities. The new CFO got his first real estate finance experience at Irvine company before joining Westwood in 2020.

Ball started her retail real estate career at Regency Centers in 2005, got into leasing at DLC Management Corp., then spent 11 years at SITE Centers, where she rose to VP of leasing.

At Westwood, she was charged with establishing a leasing infrastructure focused on building a positive trajectory for the chain’s real estate portfolio.

“In the two years since she joined our company, Lauren has impressed us with her willingness to roll up her sleeves and get things done,” said Bratt.