If finding the right office space is a puzzle, she's uniquely qualified at putting the pieces together.

Abusiness owner searching for the right office space can find the task daunting, often resembling putting together a giant puzzle. Because the pieces have to fit precisely to get the needed results, the process can be time-consuming and overwhelming - especially when one's daily routine involves, first and foremost, customer service. However, the puzzle goes together more easily when commercial real estate professional Ashley Bussey assembles the pieces.

As a Senior Associate in the brokerage division at S.L. Nusbaum Realty Company, Ashley specializes in office and medical sales and leasing transactions. She represents both tenants and property owners to identify, negotiate, and execute commercial transactions throughout the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.

"I partner with my clients and use my expertise to guide them through the process," Ashley explains. "I'm with them from start to finish, from the site selection and through the lease/contract negotiations and the construction process."

Ashley's extraordinary expertise in office spaces for healthcare professionals is particularly valuable due to her educational background. She holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences and a master's degree in public health from Eastern Virginia Medical School. She also completed the CCIM Institute's cash-flow course, enabling her to analyze and quantify the investment return on commercial property purchases.

"I assist healthcare practices as well as professionals like attorneys, architects, and accounting firms to buy, sell or lease commercial and office spaces," she says. "As far as I know, I'm the only person in this region with these specialized degrees, so I bring a lot of background knowledge to the process of working with healthcare professionals. As a result, those professionals can do the work they're trained to do while I use my market knowledge to make sure they don't overpay for the space they need."
While the pandemic slowed many business expansions, Ashley's work with clients thrived. Because therapists and mental healthcare professionals experienced increased demand for their services, many of them looked for additional workspaces.

Before joining S.L. Nusbaum Realty Company in 2015, Ashley was a sales manager with Office Spaces and Solutions, one of Nusbaum's partnered companies. There, she was responsible for the leasing functions of virtual office spaces, as well as Executive Suites.

In 2015, Ashley joined S.L. Nusbaum as an Associate Broker. Since participating in Nusbaum's year-long mentorship program, she has been promoted to Senior Associate. During that mentorship program, she learned the business from four Senior Brokers, to whom she still looks for advice.

"I enjoy spending time meeting and networking with new people and learning how I can have an impact on these different organizations," she says. "Whether philanthropic or professional, these organizations allow me to connect and have an impact, not only locally but nationally."
After college, many of Ashley's classmates headed to jobs in big cities like New York City and Washington, D.C., but Ashley came back to her roots. "When I was offered a mentorship with Nusbaum, I went for it," she says. "It's been a tremendous opportunity for me." Ashley sees her future as helping clients throughout Hampton Roads solve their space needs.

She likes the variety and challenges of her job because no two clients are alike. Dentists, in particular, require specialized infrastructure because water, gas, and air are necessary for each dental chair, whereas medical doctors typically only need a sink in each exam room.

Often, medical professionals nearing the end of a typical 10-year lease realize that purchasing property is a better investment. Today's spiraling construction costs and low inventory can make that a challenging goal, but Ashley has the network to make it happen. The process usually starts with a shell building containing no walls or restrooms. Next, Ashley typically negotiates the build-out process, which defines and creates waiting rooms, restrooms, exam rooms, and anything else needed to fulfill healthcare needs.

"I try to keep projects and prospects in the pipeline," she says. "Construction was moving and grooving during the pandemic, and now that things are opening back up again, interest is really gaining steam. So, the sooner I can get to work with a client, the better."

When she's not working on clients' office needs, she assists with the sales of major properties like the 12-acre, 415,000 square-foot General Foam Plastics site in Norfolk. In 2018, an out-of-state buyer purchased that property for a distribution site, she says. Warehouses that range from 5,000 square feet and up are prized commodities, according to Ashley.

"The vacancy rate for warehouses in Hampton Roads is very low because the region is part of the last-mile distribution point in getting products to consumers," she says. "In helping a business owner find an ideal space, that fact is another piece of the puzzle. Of course, there are lots of other pieces to the puzzle, but I love putting them all together."