Profile & Mission Statement

Who is CEA?

CEA helps revitalize emerging neighborhoods in Southern California and beyond through strategic planning, real estate development and targeted investment in community assets.

CEA's founders, Mott Smith and Brian Albert, have built careers innovating in real estate, finance and planning. They lead a highly skilled team with extensive experience planning, structuring, financing, entitling and building complex urban real estate projects. CEA also leverages a rich network of partners and supporters to help projects succeed in challenging infill environments.

Smith and Albert are both passionate about urban places. They see enormous untapped potential in Los Angeles and its exceptional array of people, energy and neighborhoods. They formed CEA to link their creative planning and development expertise with their love of vital communities to help Southern California continue its emergence as one of the world's great metropolises.

What does CEA do?

CEA plans and builds in emerging neighborhoods throughout Southern California, with a unique expertise that covers the complete revitalization process--from planning, financing and entitlement through project development and the actual realization of improved communities. All CEA projects are founded on a deep commitment to releasing the untapped potential of great communities. CEA offers investors, partners and clients a variety of products, from strategic revitalization plans to real estate development and infrastructure implementation.

Plan

Effective plans are much more than pictures on paper--they are predevelopment strategies designed to help communities implement the positive changes they want to see in their neighborhoods. CEA plans are enhanced by the company's active work and experience in real estate development--economic feasibility is at the heart of CEA's thinking.

Build

Successful real estate projects are solid economic investments as well as anchors for community revitalization. CEA's planning expertise creates a deeper understanding of the communities in which it builds and helps aligns the company's interests with those of the neighborhood. By building trust within communities and constructing projects that respect their context, CEA helps assure the success of its real estate developments and the neighborhoods in which they are built.

What is CEA's Vision?

• Untapped Value
  Existing urban neighborhoods have social and physical qualities that developers and cities often spend a great deal of energy, time and money to recreate in newer developments. CEA understands that this authentic character has real value, and it is the centerpiece of all CEA projects.
• The In-Place Community
  Neighborhood revitalization is only truly successful when it benefits existing property owners, residents, business owners and workers. CEA's plans and projects facilitate participation by the in-place stakeholders in their own neighborhood's revitalization. This means infrastructure serves the broader community, households of various age and income can afford to live in the neighborhood, and business and property owners of all sizes can make more effective investments in their future.
• Understanding Context
  Successful revitalization requires intimate knowledge of a community. By more fully understanding the history, forces, people, places and aspirations of a neighborhood, CEA sees opportunities others often miss. Through its ability to recognize, analyze and understand what matters in a community, CEA can capitalize on the existing points of value that will anchor a neighborhood's revitalization.