While San Diego ranks as one of the top U.S. cities for startups and entrepreneurs, one local commercial real estate property owner, EMMES Realty Services of California LLC, continues to attract innovative companies to its suite of downtown office buildings, adding to the city’s vibrant mix of businesses and culture.
“Downtown has Petco Park, bars, restaurants and gathering places, plus in-demand residential units. It really is the place to be in our opinion.”
One of those companies is NextGen Leads, a young and rapidly growing customer acquisition platform for auto insurance, health insurance, and Medicare professionals. Besides citing tenant perks and amenities such as summer happy hours on the outdoor plaza, an upscale cafe, bike storage and multi-million-dollar lobby renovation, the company recently chose 701B for its prime downtown San Diego location. 701B is an Energy Star-certified, Class A, 24-story office building with expansive views and a flexible range of suite size options.
“Before 701B, we were based in a small office in Banker’s Hill that we moved into when the company was just getting off the ground,” said NextGen Leads CEO Chris Kelly. “We chose downtown because of its vibrancy and easy access for employees, and 701B because of the location, views, large windows and the overall high-end appearance of the building’s interior. I love the views. I can see much of downtown San Diego, the Coronado Bridge and the library from my office.”
Kelly launched NextGen Leads in 2014 after discovering that existing lead generation solutions on the market were lacking in terms of lead quality, features and customer service.
“We started the company with the aim of providing a modern lead generation platform for insurance carriers and agents with best-in-class lead quality, technology and customer experience,” he said. “We started NextGen Leads with just a handful of employees and didn’t even have an office. Fast forward five years and we’re one of the fastest growing companies in America with thousands of customers, 100 employees, and millions of leads generated per year.”
NextGen Leads’ revenue has grown 1,454% over the last three years, and the company is ranked #315 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S.
Kelly said he looks forward to continued growth for his company in its newly designed 8,000 square-foot 701B headquarters, with a number of open career positions. The company’s Point Loma call center is also planning to expand beyond its current number of 70 highly trained operators who field millions of inbound calls a year and transfer qualified leads to NextGen Leads customers.
Kelly said the new downtown office space was designed to help inspire employees and boost productivity.
“We spent a lot of time and put a lot of thought into our new 701B space with the goal of making it our corporate headquarters for many years to come,” he said. “The large workspaces, high ceilings, upgraded features and overall aesthetic of the space all contribute to an image and brand that we take great pride in.”
Unique features of NextGen Leads’ new office include glass walls, upgraded finishes, artwork, large common area, a moss wall, an arcade machine, shuffleboard table, and standing desks for all employees.
“We are excited to welcome NextGen Leads to 701B,” said Christine Takara, EMMES director of customer experience. “As a commercial office landlord, our mission is to create better places for people to live, work and shop. We will continue to work to create an environment in and around our four office buildings in order to attract dynamic companies like NextGen Leads downtown.”
EMMES is the second largest commercial office landlord in downtown San Diego.
“While people are moving downtown to live, they also want to work there,” Takara said. “Downtown has Petco Park, bars, restaurants and gathering places, plus in-demand residential units. It really is the place to be in our opinion.”
EMMES Realty Services of California LLC is a member of The EMMES Group of Companies. Founded in 1992, with offices in New York and California, The EMMES Group of Companies and its affiliates are engaged in principal real estate investments, funds management and real estate services. For more information, visit www.emmesco.com.
NextGen Leads drives targeted and validated sales leads to leading carriers, insurance agencies, and independent agents in the Health, Medicare, and Auto insurance industries. With experience derived from his time at Google and as past owner of an insurance agency, NextGen Leads Founder and CEO Chris Kelly and his team have developed a lead generation platform and self-serve dashboard that is flexible, easy to use, fully compliant and powered by sophisticated technology. NextGen Leads wins accolades from its customers for its transparent approach, in-house marketing and development teams, and California-based call center that work together to cost effectively deliver a high volume of high-converting sales leads daily. www.nextgenleads.com, Facebook, LinkedIn.