Born in China, Jiang has combined his bilingual skills and cultural understanding to benefit international clients.
As a boy growing up in China, Vice President Jeff Jiang was convinced of one thing as he did his homework after school in his father’s warehouse/distribution facility: Whatever career he eventually chose, it probably wouldn’t involve warehouses.
He saw the long hours that his dad put in at the facility, combined with the enormous amount of socializing with clients, and thought to himself, “This looks like torture. I will never work in this business.” Fast-forward a couple of decades, and Jiang has combined his entrepreneurial skills and drive to establish himself as an industrial specialist in Voit Real Estate Services’ Ontario office. He also uses his bilingual skills and cultural understanding to help Chinese import-export businesses acquire or lease warehouse/distribution space in the Los Angeles market.
The son of a supplier of large construction materials (water pipes) and a college professor, Jiang had his first taste of life in the U.S. on a family trip to Boston in 2001 when he was still in elementary school. His parents had always prioritized education to prepare him for a professional career as a doctor or lawyer. “But I wasn’t ready for that kind of rigorous academic environment in China,” he says. “I was creative and a free spirit, so after high school, I went straight to the States. I saw the U.S. as my playground.”
Life in the U.S.
Before starting at the University of Kentucky in 2011, Jiang spent the summer in Boston, immersing himself in American culture and sharpening his language skills. “In China, we study English the way American kids study Spanish, so I had to improve my conversational English,” he recalls. After three semesters of general studies classes at Kentucky, Jiang transferred to the University of Tampa, a private school with smaller class sizes, where he graduated with a degree in advertising and public relations.
During his time as a student, he developed an interest in architecture and design, often riding his bike to open houses. That avocation led him to his first job out of college at the International Sales Group (ISG), a fully integrated real estate sales, marketing, and research firm based in Miami-Dade County that specializes in the luxury pre-construction and condominium development sector. His official role was conducting market research for residential and commercial investment opportunities. “But it was more like in-house sales, because in 2016, there were a lot of Chinese investors coming to Miami, and the only thing they knew about Florida was Disneyland,” he jokes. “So even though I was a real estate professional, I had to learn everything about the state of Florida, its economy, population trends…it was like I was working for the Florida Economic Development Council.”
In his role as a liaison between Chinese investors and the developer, he got an in-depth look at the land assemblage process, with many parcels consisting of former commercial properties that were being razed and redeveloped as mixed-use residential. “That’s when I began to realize that real estate was about more than just houses and condos,” says Jiang. That sparked his interest in the commercial side of real estate. So he enrolled in Florida International University’s Master of Science in International Real Estate (MSIRE) program while continuing to gain experience with ISG.
Transitioning to CRE
Soon after graduation, he moved to California with his now-wife, obtained his real estate license, and planned to transition to commercial real estate. He began working for Keller Williams’ (KW) multifamily sales arm. While he was working at KW, a friend of his wife’s family needed help securing a warehouse. “In Los Angeles, there is a very large Asian population, especially Chinese, and many of them are in the import-export e-commerce logistics business, and they all need warehouse space. That’s how I got into the industrial side of the business,” says Jiang. He partnered with a broker from a large national firm on that first deal “because I’ve always been super serious about the kind of service I want to provide to my clients, and I didn’t want to mess up,” Jiang notes. “Securing real estate is always a big decision, whether it’s leasing or sales, and I always want to provide the best service possible.”
In 2023, he moved to DAUM CRE, a regional Southern California firm, and focused on industrial real estate. Jiang worked in the City of Industry office, a territory populated by a large number of Chinese import-export businesses. Using his bilingual skills and cultural understanding to assist those businesses helped to jump-start his industrial real estate career. He continued to hone his skills as a tenant rep, and his production increased with each successive year.
Coming to Voit
Jiang was enticed to come to Voit through his association with Senior Vice President Shy Assar. As often happens with brokers working in the same market, they knew each other. Jiang also knew Assar through Assar’s “Adding Value” podcast. But it wasn’t until they began working together on a warehouse deal that Jiang became interested in Voit. Ultimately, the deal didn’t come together, but after lunch and several other meetings, Jiang joined Assar’s team at Voit, citing the platform and the data support the firm provides, as well as the opportunity to work in one of the world’s logistics epicenters.
The Chinese Connection
Jiang has been able to leverage his bilingual and cultural skills to help Chinese third-party logistics (3PL) and other logistics companies find space in his market. “Being born and raised in China, I’m fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and probably 60 to 70 percent of my customers are Chinese 3PLs in the Inland Empire and Ontario markets,” says Jiang. “My understanding of the language and culture helps us get through the door, and Shy has the track record of solving complex space requirements for clients, so we’re like a dream team.”
Assar serves as Jiang’s mentor. Jiang says that what brought him to this point in his career aligns very closely with the Voit ethos. Beyond the requisite hard work, his key to success has been adopting a client’s perspective when helping tenants find a space or helping buyers purchase a property.
“We have to adopt the point of view of the client as to why exactly this warehouse will or won’t work for them, so I really try to understand their business first,” says Jiang. “Because if I understand how the business works, I can anticipate questions before they’re asked. It’s all part of providing service that is above and beyond.”
Today, sitting in the heart of the Inland Empire, Jiang has come full circle. The warehouse business he grew up around—and once thought he would never be a part of—has become the foundation of his career.
Additional broker profiles are scheduled over the next few months. Check back to see who we highlight next.