about us

Metro Investments, LLC, a California Limited Liability Company benefits from an entrepreneurial approach and has extensive experience in residential and commercial real estate projects.  It is a private-held real estate investment company that leverages its unique architectural and development experiences to create exceptional properties that provide superior investment returns to its partners and clients.  Its team of seasoned real estate investment, development, construction and design specialists focus on unique residential and commercial development opportunities, specifically in Southern California infill locations.

Art Simonian is the founding principal of Metro Investments and is responsible for the acquisition, feasibility and planning of urban development projects in Southern California. Mr. Simonian graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Architecture and a minor in Urban and Regional Planning, and received his Master of Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California. He is a licensed architect and a licensed real estate broker in the state of California. Lastly, Mr. Simonian is a City Commissioner for the City of Glendale, California where he has been serving on the City’s design review board since 2006.

Prior to Metro Investments, Mr. Simonian served as Acquisition Officer with American Realty Advisors (“American”), which is a Southern California pension fund advisor. American has approximately $5.0 billion in assets under management, and provides investment solutions to public and corporate pension funds, endowments, foundations and Taft-Hartley trust funds. Mr. Simonian, originated equity real estate investments for separate client and commingled account portfolios for American. Mr. Simonian was responsible for deal procurement, analysis, market research, underwriting, negotiating, due diligence and closing of acquisitions for institutional grade multi-family, retail, office and industrial properties throughout the United States. In addition, Mr. Simonian provided investment strategy and managed the acquisition process by overseeing a team of acquisition analysts and support staff.

Prior to American, Mr. Simonian served as Investment Manager of Acquisitions for Madison Marquette, which is one of the nation’s premier life-style retail developers. As a member of Madison Marquette’s acquisition group, Mr. Simonian acquired value-add life-style retail centers, enclosed regional malls, and urban retail buildings to reposition into stabilized assets. Mr. Simonian Utilized his architectural background to target distressed assets that could be redeveloped and remerchandised while optimizing returns.

Prior to Madison Marquette, Mr. Simonian served as Project Manager for Altoon + Porter Architects, where he managed concurrent design teams in all phases of architectural services. Mr. Simonian completed numerous projects throughout the conceptual, schematic, design development and construction administrative phases in the United States.