When your business is preparing for a commercial real estate lease, renewal, expansion, contraction, relocation, sublease or building purchase anywhere in the country, you need a trusted team of advisors that are committed to your success. Hughes Marino is one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate firms dedicated to advising tenants and buyers with their real estate needs across San Diego and beyond.
Hughes Marino was founded in San Diego, and the city is still home to our corporate headquarters at 1450 Front Street. Our advisors, project managers, designers and lease administration experts serve every major submarket in the county, from the life science campuses of Torrey Pines and Sorrento Valley to the office buildings of Downtown and Bankers Hill, and the industrial properties of North County.
Sole Fiduciary to Tenants
Unlike traditional brokerage models that represent both landlords and tenants, Hughes Marino exclusively represents users and occupiers of commercial real estate, including tenants, buyers and owner occupiers. That means our advice is objective, our strategies are aligned to your goals, and our negotiating power is focused on the economics and flexibility your business needs.
Why San Diego Companies Trust Hughes Marino
Hughes Marino is considered the best commercial real estate company in San Diego to help businesses with their real estate. For over three decades, Hughes Marino has financially protected and represented commercial real estate tenants and buyers across San Diego to obtain the best possible business terms, with the most flexibility and the lowest cost economics on the real estate facilities that they want to occupy. We help thousands of companies renew existing leases, buy and construct buildings, expand or contract, relocate to new properties or spaces, and optimize the real estate that they occupy.
How We Represent Tenants in San Diego
Define What Your Business Needs
We start with the questions that shape your requirement. How does your team work today? How will your team work tomorrow? What length of term is right for your company? Which parts of San Diego County make sense for your workforce?
Audit Your Lease and Benchmark the Market
We review your current lease for hidden fees, overcharges and unfavorable clauses, then benchmark it against current San Diego market conditions to identify leverage points and savings potential.
Build Leverage and Test the Market
With tenant-favorable conditions in several San Diego submarkets and, in industrial, sublease space competing with direct landlord space, we go to market to create real options, then lead negotiations on your behalf using data, experience and our reputation for integrity.
Plan Construction Early
Our program, project and construction management team can join early to set facility requirements, the tenant improvement budget and the project timeline, so the lease and work letter support the build-out you actually need.
Support You After You Sign
We make sure the negotiated terms are accurately reflected in your lease documents, then provide ongoing support through lease administration and our free lease expiration reminder service.
What We Offer
Beyond leasing and building purchases, San Diego companies rely on our specialized life science real estate and industrial representation teams. When you want to turn owned real estate into growth capital through a sale-leaseback, or need real estate capital solutions through our corporate capital markets group, our expert advisors handle that too.
Leasing
- Relocations
- Renewals and restructurings
- Expansions in the existing facility
- Contractions and consolidations
- Lease buyouts and terminations
- Excess property disposition/subleasing & assignments
- Anchor tenant development
- Build-to-suits
Site Selection & Acquisition
- Feasibility studies
- Lease vs. purchase evaluation
- Lease-to-own structuring
- Purchase and sale agreements
- Property due diligence
- Financing and lending options
- New building construction
- Construction document quality assurance review
Who We Help in San Diego
We represent tenants and buyers across San Diego in virtually every industry, including:
Life science: Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics and GMP manufacturing companies
Technology: Software and technology companies of all sizes
Legal and professional services: Law firms, engineering firms and financial services firms
Industrial and manufacturing: Logistics, warehouse, e-commerce, manufacturing and robotics facilities
Government: Public agencies and municipalities
Advanced manufacturing: Aerospace/defense, energy/utilities, hardware technology and more
Frequently Asked Questions About Tenant Representation in San Diego and Beyond
A tenant representative is your advocate in every lease or purchase, and never the landlord’s. For a San Diego company, that includes auditing your current lease, identifying the right submarkets and buildings, creating competition among landlords, negotiating the economics and flexibility of the deal and coordinating construction and move-in.
It depends on asset type, submarket and lease term. As of August 2026, tenant-favorable areas such as Downtown, Carlsbad and Sorrento Mesa office and the South Bay industrial market may give tenants more room to negotiate free rent, improvement allowances and flexibility options, especially when multiple buildings are competing for the same tenant requirements.
Yes. If you have excess space, we help you position the space competitively, evaluate sublease pricing, navigate landlord approvals and negotiate sublease or assignment terms that reduce your financial exposure. You can also list your space on our San Diego sublease listings.
For major leases or specialized spaces, begin 18-36 months before lease expires. Landlords often “slow-play” negotiations to limit your relocation options, so starting early protects your leverage. The more time you have, the more choices, flexibility and negotiating power you gain. Regardless of the size, lease and purchase negotiations should start at least 12 months in advance for optimal optionality, however Hughes Marino can add substantial value even if your lease expires next month.
Tenant brokers are compensated by the landlord, not the tenant. Just as a residential agent has a listing agreement to sell a home, landlord brokers have commission contracts to lease their buildings. When you sign or renew a commercial lease, the landlord pays a commission. If you don’t use a broker to help you, the landlord broker typically receives the entire commission. If you use a separate broker, the landlord broker splits it with them. This means you receive full, dedicated representation at no out-of-pocket cost.
Hughes Marino works for tenants, not landlords.
It depends on your growth plans, available capital and how long you expect to stay. We evaluate both paths side by side, and our free lease vs. purchase spreadsheet lets you compare the economics. When buying makes sense, we represent San Diego companies through the entire purchase process.
Our Awards & Recognition in San Diego and Beyond
San Diego Magazine named Hughes Marino the Best Commercial Real Estate Firm in San Diego for 2026. Other local honors include San Diego’s Best Commercial Real Estate Company from The San Diego Union-Tribune and San Diego’s Best Places to Work from the San Diego Business Journal, both in multiple years, along with San Diego’s Most Admired Companies from SD Metro Magazine. Nationally, Fortune named Hughes Marino the No. 1 Best Workplace in the Nation (Small and Medium category) in 2018, and we are Great Place to Work Certified. We believe this culture supports a high standard of client service. See the full list of our awards & recognitions for additional accolades.
Local clients back that up:
Our experience with Hughes Marino has been nothing short of amazing. In our entire three years of working together, there was never any doubt that they were 110% behind us through every step of the process. They are creative, strong negotiators and provide end-to-end service from discovery to legal to construction. I would happily recommend Hughes Marino to anyone who has commercial real estate needs.
Scot Chisholm
CEO & Co-Founder, Classy
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