About Us
Westy Kent, CEOwkent@kentcommercialinc.com
703-528-7799
For over twenty-seven years, Westy Kent has worked in the commercial real estate industry achieving the respect of his peers and his clients. During this time, Mr. Kent has successfully brokered countless local and national lease and purchase transactions.
Mr. Kent's distinguished resume includes thirteen years with Smithy Braedon, achieving the position of Vice President. In 1994, Mr. Kent established Kent Commercial, Inc., with the sole purpose of exclusively representing tenants. A sampling of his current and previous clients include Stanley Inc., Northrop Grumman, AFSCME, CSSI Inc., Luntz Communications among many well known companies.
Receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 from Dickinson College, Mr. Kent went on to graduate from American University in 1980 with a Master's of Science degree in Communications and Public Relations. He also has done MBA coursework.
Mr. Kent is a licensed broker in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
Richard Benswanger, Senior Director
rbenswanger@kentcommercialinc.com
301-231-0898
Richard Benswanger has been in commercial real estate for twenty years, associated with Kent Commercial, Inc for the past twelve years. With more than thirty-five years in the real estate and construction industry, Mr. Benswanger has an experienced understanding of the industry. Having owned a successful small business prior to his entering commercial real estate, he fully understands and appreciates the importance of the success of each facet of today's business environment.
He specializes in exclusive tenant representation for leasing, investment and user sales, and build-to-suit requirements. While Mr. Benswanger's emphasis is focused upon the Maryland, District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia regions, his client relationships have taken him beyond these regions to successfully complete transactions around the country.
His accomplishments include representing several government contractors, bioscience companies, and advising work on a 90,000-square-foot office building. As an example of his diversity, Mr. Benswanger has been given an exclusive assignment to represent a restaurant group seeking locations along the East Coast from Boston to Atlanta.
Mr. Benswanger is licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and is an active member of the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce.
He attended American University where he majored in English.
Jim Mullen, Senior Director
jmullen@kentcommercialinc.com
703-298-1181
Mr. Mullen has more than twenty-seven years of experience in the real estate field. He spent twenty-five years as a Senior Director with Cushman & Wakefield representing numerous corporate, defense, and technology-related companies in the Washington metropolitan area. In 2006, Mr. Mullen moved to Kent Commercial, Inc. to focus exclusively upon tenant representation.
He has been responsible for representing numerous corporate, defense, and technology-related companies in the Washington metropolitan area, and he has been recognized for leasing several high-profile properties in emerging markets, which went on to win awards for quality and design.
Over the years, Mr. Mullen has completed more than 6.5 million-square-feet of leasing and sales transactions in Office, Flex, Retail, and Industrial buildings. Mr. Mullen is a lifetime member of the Washington Board of Realtors Million Dollar Leasing Club.
He has a degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Southern Illinois University, he is a Certified Commercial Lease Consultant, and a licensed real estate broker in Virginia.
Diana Wahl, Associate
dwahl@kentcommercialinc.com
703-532-3851
Diana Wahl has been engaged in commercial real estate since 1982. She first was economic development coordinator for Arlington County, Virginia, after which she became a leasing broker focusing on landlord representation for the largest developer in the Washington Metropolitan area. She later shifted her focus to tenant representation, and for over 25 years has worked with private companies, associations and non-profits to assess their space needs and to acquire (and dispose of) space. In particular, Diana has a special understanding of the requirements of government contractors, whose facility needs are frequently changeable. Among her long-time clients are Axiom Resource Management, Inc., In-Q-Tel, Teledyne Brown Engineering, The Cadmus Group, and International Relief and Development.
Diana received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University where she majored in creative writing, and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the University of Pittsburgh. When she is not working, Diana volunteers for the National Park Service as a bike patroller at the C&O Canal National Historic Park.
