Experience

One of the founding partners of Hayes Commercial Group, Francois specializes in the sale and leasing of office and R&D properties in Gole­ta, Santa Barbara, Montecito and Carpinteria. He is extremely well versed in the represen­tation of both tenants and landlords and brings a unique corporate focus to the Hayes Commercial team. In fact, he currently represents several of Santa Barbara’s publicly traded firms and was involved in the second largest office sale and the largest office lease ever recorded on the South Coast. In total, Fran­cois has represented clients in more than 1,200 commercial transactions, to­taling over 11 million square feet, and valued at more than $1.4 billion.

Francois has been a significant player in the Santa Barbara commercial real estate community since 1991. He brings an unmatched combination of marketing, negotiation, financial and market knowledge to all of his clients.

Fran is a board member and contributing author for the UCSB Economic Fore­cast Project. He is recognized in the Pacific Coast Busi­ness Times’ annual “Dealmakers” feature virtually every year.

Professional Background

2008 – Present:
Hayes Commercial, Partner, Founder

2004 – 2008:
Leider Hayes Commercial, Partner, Founder

1997 – 2004:
Blair Hayes Commercial, Partner

1991 – 1997:
Pacifica Commercial Realty, Broker

Education

Francois’ educational background is also firmly entrenched in the Santa Barbara community. He graduated summa cum laude in Business Economics from University of California at Santa Barbara, where he played intercollegiate soccer.

Affiliations / Awards

  • UCSB Economic Forecast: Board member and Contributing Author
  • California Economic Forecast: Contributing Author & Speaker
  • Santa Barbara Middle School: Board member
  • Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce: Board member
  • Featured “Dealmaker” of the year 2008 – 2011 and 2013 – 2017,  by the Pacific Coast Business Times
  • Named one of the 40 under 40 leading business persons by the Pacific Coast Business Times in 2002
  • California Bureau of Real Estate: Licensed Broker (lic. 01144570)
  • Santa Barbara Multiple Listing Service, Loopnet

Notable Clients & Transactions

See Full Portfolio

Raytheon  $41M sale of 208,000 sf office/R&D on 63 acres

Bermant Development  $40M sale of 208,000 sf office/R&D on 28 acres

H&R Investments $29M sale of 102,000 sf office building on 10 acres and $23M sale of 105,000 sf office/R&D facility on 10 acres

Orfalea Family $25M sale of 120,000 sf office campus on 10 acres

Citrix Online  $20M sale of 160,000 sf office/R&D on 15 acres

Matteson Partners  $20M sale of 75,000 sf office on 4 acres

The Towbes Group  $13M sale of 58,000 sf office/R&D on 7 acres

Ericsson 170,000 sf lease of 3 office buildings, 10 year leases

Citrix 160,000 sf lease of 6 office buildings, 5-10 year leases

Raytheon 165,000 sf lease of 2 R&D buildings, 5 year leases

Allergan 105,000 sf lease of R&D space, 15 year lease

SBB&T 102,000 sf lease of office, 10 year lease

Curvature  98,000 sf lease of office and industrial space, 7 year leases

AppFolio 80,000 sf lease of 2 office buildings, 5 year leases

Procore 60,000 sf lease of 3 office buildings, 7 year leases