DRE# 01252131
Derek Senn
Owner/Broker
Derek has been active in local commercial real estate since 1998, when he moved back to San Luis Obispo from Seattle to join his father Charley in the family business. Derek represents buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants in all categories of commercial property on the Central Coast, with an emphasis on the San Luis Obispo market.
Derek is proud of his solution-based approach to customer service. Transactions can oftentimes be derailed due to solvable problems related to financing, environmental concerns, or contractual disputes. Derek has successfully completed many transactions which necessitated a comprehensive, even-handed, problem-solving approach.
Some examples of Derek’s successful transactions include:
- the representation of Meathead Movers in the purchase of 3600 S. Higuera Street for their new corporate headquarters and mini-storage facility
- the sale and subsequent remodel of the former Greyhound building on South Street to Quaglino Properties
- the leasing of 20,000 sq. ft. of office space to SunRun at 775 Fiero Lane
- the leasing of 15,000 SF at 872 Higuera Street to the Cal Poly Hothouse
- the sale of several parcels of land across from the San Luis Obispo airport, which have since been developed, including the Harris Law Firm parcel.
Derek is fluent in Spanish, which he learned during a one-year foreign exchange in Quito, Ecuador, following his graduation from San Luis Obispo High School. In 1993, Derek returned to South America with a friend to bicycle through Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador for six months on a self-supported tour of the Andes. He graduated in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American and Iberian Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Derek has participated as a mentor with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County and is a graduate of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class XII. He has also been the featured speaker at several service organization luncheons, including Rotary and the Exchange Club.
Derek’s hobbies include trail running and writing and recording original music (check him out on Spotify!) His wife, Melanie, is a lecturer in the English department at Cal Poly. They have two school-aged sons, Diego and Charlie, who both play piano, ukulele, clarinet, and saxophone. The family enjoys hiking, surfing, camping—and playing music!
DRE# 00944530
Mark Anderson
Broker associate
Mark earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 1986. His major was Finance with a concentration in Real Estate. Upon graduation, Mark obtained a real estate broker’s license from the California Department of Real Estate and began working as a real estate broker. For the next 31 years, Mark worked exclusively with commercial real estate, primarily in the City of San Luis Obispo.
In November, 2008, Mark opened Anderson Commercial Real Estate Services where he continues to offer the same quality leasing, sales, management and investment services. Mark has been involved with many projects in a capacity ranging from owner/developer, leasing agent and sales agent to property manager and consultant. He has represented many tenants throughout his professional career, including municipalities and corporations such as the County and City of San Luis Obispo, Wells Fargo, PG&E, Pacific Bell, Firestone Tires, and Tenet. In addition, he has worked with many local and national retailers including Trader Joe’s, Sherwin Williams, Aaron Brothers, Smart & Final, and Burger King.
DRE# 00952817
Charley Senn
Broker associate
2024 marked the 50th anniversary of Charley’s work in the commercial real estate industry. He has been involved in all aspects of San Luis Obispo Commercial Real Estate since 1987 including leases, sales, IRS section 1031 tax deferred exchanges, development of raw land and development and redevelopment of commercial buildings.
He has represented all types of tenants and owners including developers, large national companies, non-profits, local businesses, and governmental entities and has completed over 1500 commercial real estate transactions in his career. He is a member of the prestigious Society of Office and Industrial Realtors (SIOR) with designations as both an office and Industrial expert. He has a JD degree and is admitted to the practice of law in the states of Washington and Ohio.
In his career he has seen several commercial real estate cycles as well as the effects of COVID 19 on the industry. His experience and market knowledge provides him with the ability to understand the dynamics of a transaction and find the components that result in a successful transaction and solid advice to long- term clients. His consistency and performance are evidenced by his continuous long-term representation of clients.
Charley has been actively involved in the local community. He served 8 years on the City Planning Commission serving as chairman for 2 years, several terms as a board member on the Chamber of Commerce and was designated a member emeritus of the Economic Vitality Commission.
Charley and his wife Ginny have three of their four children and nine of their eleven grandchildren living in San Luis Obispo, allowing them to see family often. They enjoy hiking, pickleball, golf, competitive bridge and travel.
Some of Charley’s recent transactions include:
- Representation of the tenant in the lease of a 92,000 SF facility at 125 Venture Dr. which was one of the largest industrial lease transactions in San Luis Obispo's history.
- Renegotiation of 11 commercial leases as a result of the Corona 19 virus.
- Representation of the owner in leasing a new 36,000 SF office building at 892 Aerovista Dr.
- Completion of 42 commercial transactions in the last 2 years.
I’ve had a 25+ year business relationship with Charley. He is personable, warm, ethical, and compassionate . He has a knack for seeing opportunity often hidden to others. He is skilled at creating mutually beneficial, often creative business solutions that facilitate successful transactions.
-Art Segal
Charley Senn and I have had a 25+ year relationship. It has been outstanding. He started out representing a very good tenant and was very conscientious and did all the things I wanted in leasing agent. After that, the next time I had a space come up I listed it with him. He does an excellent job. So, he has continued to represent me and eventually took over all my leasing even to tenants I had had before. His current arrangement with Mark Anderson and Derek Senn has been excellent as well.
-Chuck French
DRE# 02231763
Melanie Senn
Agent
Melanie Senn was born in Camden, New Jersey—the resting place of renowned poet Walt Whitman—and grew up in Southern California. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UCSB and has lived in Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. In April 1999 she proposed to her pen pal, Derek while hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru (he accepted!) They have been married since 1999 and have two awesome sons.
Melanie has always worked in customer service, starting at 15 when she got a job at Jack in the Box so she could pay for her own braces. She worked in retail from the age of 16 to 21 and waited tables through college. She received her master’s degree in English from Cal Poly in 2004, she taught at Cuesta College and then Cal Poly for 16 years.
Melanie loves the San Luis Obispo community and has produced many audio stories for our local public radio station, KCBX. In 2023, she published Murray: A Novel, a historical work of fiction based in 19th Century New York City.
In 2024, she obtained her real estate license and cut her teeth at The Avenue, a local residential firm. She joined Anderson Commercial Real Estate Services as an agent in December 2024 and is thrilled to be working with Derek, Mark, Daisy, and her father-in-law Charley.
DRE# 01818341
Daisy Haas
Office Mgr, Marketing Asst, Bookkeeper...
Since 2008, (wow! nearly 20 years) Daisy has been a key player for the brokerage. She'll likely be the first friendly face (or voice) you'll encounter.
Like clockwork, Daisy updates the company website, designs printed materials, and manages other online postings. Everything is up to date (unless she's on vacation). She is also pretty good at crunching numbers. She enjoys balancing the books, and helping the business run smoothly with her never-ending bookkeeping tasks. Daisy is the AR and AP department. She is diligently working BTS to make sure everyone gets paid.
Oh, did we mention she’s a licensed California real estate agent? Because she is.
In her spare time, Daisy is either hugging trees or hopping planes. She has managed to visit all seven continents (yes, including Antarctica). She's still not entirely sure how that happened.