VP of office leasing for Related Santa Clara departing for Miami-based Tricera Capital

Dustin Ballard, the vice president of office leasing for The Related Companies’ massive Silicon Valley project, is taking a new job at Miami-based Tricera Capital.

The real estate investment firm hired Ballard to be its new head of office leasing and executive vice president. Ballard’s last day with Related Cos. is Tuesday and his first day with Tricera is Wednesday, he told The Real Deal.

“I’m excited to join Tricera,” Ballard said. “It’s a very exciting, ambitious group that’s growing quickly across the country.”

The decision to change jobs was a “purely personal” one that resulted from a separate decision Ballard and his wife made several months ago, he said. “We’ve got family out here (in Florida), and we simply wanted to be closer to family with our two young kids,” he said. Additionally, Ballard was looking for a position that would “take me throughout the U.S. rather than being confined to one specific market. This opportunity fits exactly that.”

Related has begun searching for Ballard’s replacement but has no timetable for an announcement, Related Santa Clara spokesperson Evette Davis told The Real Deal. “We certainly wish (Ballard) well at his new position at Tricera Capital,” Davis said in a statement.

A representative for Tricera did not immediately respond to a request for comment after confirming receipt of it Monday morning.

In January 2020, Related hired Ballard to oversee office leasing efforts for Related Santa Clara, a 240-acre project near Levi’s Stadium that includes a mix of office buildings, hotels, apartments, parks, retail and restaurant space. The project is planned to have 9.2 million square feet of total developed space, making it one of the largest single developments in Silicon Valley’s history.

Related Santa Clara’s office component includes two build-to-suit campus opportunities and two separate office buildings that collectively offer 5.54 million square feet of space. Related Cos. has not begun building out any of that space or said when it will start.

Earlier this month, Related Cos. and commercial brokerage CBRE announced that the latter would lead the marketing efforts for those two buildings, which contain 740,000 square feet of space combined, plus an 800,000-square-foot build-to-suit campus opportunity.

Not included in those efforts is a 4 million-square-foot build-to-suit corporate campus Related has planned for its Santa Clara site; the developer hasn’t yet determined whether it will hire a broker to market that space or do it itself. The hiring of CBRE came about three months after Related reportedly parted ways with the Newmark team it initially hired to lead office leasing efforts for its Santa Clara development’s first two phases.

As for Ballard and his new gig, he will be responsible for day-to-day leasing efforts and helping to grow Tricera’s portfolio. The investment firm focuses on acquiring retail properties in urban areas within the United States that it can add value to; it has amassed a portfolio of about 25 retail, office and mixed-use assets collectively totaling about 1.7 million square feet, according to Tricera’s website. Its portfolio is largely located in South Florida, Tampa and St. Petersburg, and Tennessee.

Ballard relocated to West Palm Beach from San Jose, California, a couple of months ago, but he said his existing relationships in the San Francisco Bay Area will remain intact. “In today’s day and age, you can really do business no matter where you are,” he said. “I’m still going to have relationships in Silicon Valley.”