Changes at East County’s largest commercial office building

— It’s the second time in 25 years the new building manager has succeeded the previous building manager in a job

AlliedPlazaPattyCarrollMaryYoungman

Patty Carroll (left) is succeeding the retiring Mary Youngman at Allied Plaza, a commercial office building in La Mesa

The seven-story Allied Plaza, 7777 Alvarado Road in La Mesa, East County’s tallest and largest office building at 125,000 square feet, has a new building manager for the first time in 25 years. Mary Youngman, who arrived at Allied Plaza in 1990, is retiring at the end of December.

Allied Plaza’s new building manager is Patty Carroll. It’s the second time Carroll has succeeded Youngman in a job switch. In 1990, when Youngman left Great Western Bank to arrive at Allied Plaza, Carroll took Youngman’s job with the bank overseeing foreclosed commercial properties.

“Yes, there is a bit of irony with my retirement,” admitted Youngman. “Patty will do a terrific job while I spend my time on my golf game and sailing skills.”

A resident of Coronado since 1989, Youngman is a member of the Coronado Cays Yacht Club and served as its Commodore in 2012. She is currently serving as the club’s Staff Commodore. Youngman was recently feted by several hundred tenants and friends who attended her retirement party held in the Allied Plaza lobby.

AlliedPlazaBuilding2441Before her career in property management, Youngman, a native of El Paso, Tex. worked as a flight attendant from 1976 to 1989 for Continental Airlines and Fort Worth Airlines. She began at Allied Plaza soon after the Allied Insurance Co., which built the building in 1983, sold the property to Los Angeles-based HFH Ltd., which was affiliated with Great Western Bank at the time. HFH, a property management and commercial real estate investment firm, has remained the owner of Allied Plaza ever since.

Carroll, a native of Austin, Tex., moved to San Diego from Austin in 1990. She has 25 years of experience in property management. She spent the past 14 years as an asset manager managing two Mission Valley office buildings owned by The Colton Co., based in Irvine, Calif. Prior to that, Carroll was an assistant vice president for Chase Manhattan Mortgage, the real estate mortgage subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s. During her career, Carroll also worked as general manager for a downtown San Diego office building owned by The Broe Real Estate Group, based in Denver. She holds a California real estate broker’s license and enjoys swimming and scuba diving.

“I am thrilled to work at such a magnificent office building,” said Carroll, who lives in La Mesa . “Yes, it is ironic to be stepping into Mary’s shoes for the second time in 25 years. I am loving living and working in La Mesa.”

Both Youngman and Carroll have earned the Real Property Administrator (RPA) professional designation from the Building Owners and Managers Institute International (BOMI), a nonprofit, independent educational institute affiliated with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), a national trade group.

More than 600 people work at Allied Plaza, which features three stories of underground parking and a full-service deli. Tenants represent a variety of business sectors, including banking, investments, real estate, law, healthcare and marketing. The five-acre Allied Plaza campus includes a two-story, 24,000-square-foot building built in 1999. Located at 7787 Alvarado Road, the smaller building, in front of the office tower, is occupied by National University.