Radius: Golis Receives Jack Kelly Exchange Award, Howard C. Gates Achievement Award

Prestigious awards given for the top Exchange transaction of the year, top sale of the year

At the Annual Santa Barbara Association of Realtors (SBAOR) awards and installation luncheon held last Friday, December 7 at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, Central Coast commercial real estate industry titan Steve Golis of Radius Commercial Real Estate was awarded both trophies presented by the organization.

The Jack Kelly Exchange Award is bestowed on the agent behind the most impressive 1031 Exchange transaction, while the Howard C. Gates Achievement Award recognizes the stand-out sale of the year. This is the first time an agent has received both awards in the same year, as well as the first time a commercial real estate agent has been awarded the Gates award. Additionally, the Jack Kelly award, which Golis also received in 2013, is being retired by the organization.

“Our entire firm is extremely proud of Steve,” said Steve Brown, Radius Principal and co-founder with Golis. “The work he has done in the Tri-Counties as a specialist in multifamily investments is a legacy that most agents aspire to but few will achieve in their careers.”

Over his 38-year career, Golis has amassed multifamily and commercial sales amounting to more than 13,000 units sold, with sales volume during the past decade alone exceeding more than $1 billion. Widely considered the market leader in his specialty, Golis also co-founded Radius in 2002.

The annual SBAOR awards are highly competitive and the organization receives numerous entries from agents in both the residential and commercial sides of the industry.

Golis earned the Gates award for the sale of a 38-property portfolio of multifamily and residential income properties in Isla Vista which closed for $76 million in May, 2018 after a six-month escrow. The tense and complex sale involved a tremendous amount of due diligence and a multitude of factors including 11 corporate attorneys, 61 loans to pay off and 11 LLC agreements, to name a few. The deal was further complicated for a handful of reasons by the Thomas Fire in December 2017 as well as the Montecito mudslide. Ultimately the properties were purchased by a group of investors from the East Coast.

The Jack Kelly award was presented to Golis for his work representing the seller of three apartment properties totaling 111 units in Ventura and Oxnard, which the seller exchanged for a 63-unit complex in Isla Vista. “The whole thing was complicated with numerous exchanges, refinancings, complex escrows and carrybacks, and my team needed to keep our eyes down and focused to ensure successful closings,” said Golis.