About 60 members of the Korean Real Estate Professional Association, or KREPA, gathered last week in Southern California to network, talk commercial property and throw axes, and A.J. Canada of CIM Group deemed the event a sizable success.
KREPA, whose goal is to be the core group representing Korean commercial real estate professionals in the United States, hosted the happy hour Thursday at Mo's House of Axe in Los Angeles' Koreatown. "We had a fantastic turnout at last week's Korean Real Estate Professional Association (KREPA) event," Canada said in a LinkedIn post. "Representation in the industry is so important and it was especially great to see so many new faces."
Besides advocating for the advancement of Korean professionals in the commercial real estate industry, KREPA provides a platform for networking as well as sharing expertise and market knowledge. The group said it also acts "as a core consultant group in the U.S. for potential institutional investors, real estate funds and development companies from Korea."
Canada said KREPA planning committee members John Chun of JLL, Zena Ho of law firm McDermott Will & Emery, Hoony Shin of Mesa West Capital and Oaktree Capital Management's Minjoo Kim played a key role in making the event happen. CIM Group and McDermott Will & Emery were sponsors.
KREPA was founded in New York in 2006, and its Southern California chapter launched about a year later.