Lauren Ball is the brand-new Chief Operating Officer of Westwood Financial. Established in 1970, the Los Angeles based company owns, manages, and operates 127 high-quality shopping centers in many of the biggest U.S. metropolitan markets. As COO, Ball is responsible for a team of professionals working in a wide range of areas, including leasing, legal, construction, marketing, and management.
Ball's March 2023 promotion comes on the heels of a roughly two-year stint with the company as its Head of Leasing. During this time, she was charged with establishing a leasing infrastructure focused on building a positive trajectory for the chain’s real estate portfolio. By all accounts, Ball exceeded expectations by leading the leasing team to the highest percentage of leased space in the company’s history. Topping 96.8% leased as of year-end 2022, the 8.9 million-sq. ft. retail portfolio achieved same-store NOI growth of 5.6 percent year-over-year.
Speaking to her success at Westwood, Chief Executive Officer Mark Bratt said, “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. We brought her on to establish a leasing infrastructure to support a positive trajectory for our retail portfolio. She’s accomplished that and more...”
Overall, Ball's commercial real estate career includes more than $1 billion in transactions across the U.S. Before Westwood, Ball spent 11 years with SITE Centers, where she served as the Vice President of Leasing. During her tenure, her leasing team oversaw a portfolio of 55 retail centers, totaling 18 million square feet. Prior to SITE Centers, she was a leasing representative for DLC Management. In 2005, Ball started her retail real estate career at Regency Centers, where she participated in the leasing/management training program.
Away from the office, Ball is an active member of Atlanta's Buckhead Coalition, an invitation-only community business organization limited to 100 members. She was inducted in 2019, making her the youngest female in the group. On top of that, she is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, where she has served on numerous committees. Ball earned a bachelor's in economics and finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder.