Meet Jonathon Dilworth of C & D Partners in West LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathon Dilworth.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jonathon. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I moved out to Los Angeles from Michigan in 2008 without a job. I moved into an apartment in Hermosa Beach with some old high school friends. Economically, the timing was one of the worst in history for me to pursue work in the real estate industry. Now, I’m an independent real estate developer in the city of Los Angeles building small lot subdivisions in Hollywood. Some might say I’m lucky, but I think it’s also being prepared when opportunity strikes.

I grew up in the countryside of Michigan just outside of Kalamazoo. I went to Kellogg Community College where my Dad worked as the Chair of the Social Science Department and then went to Western Michigan University to study real estate finance. I was not a great student mostly because I was always working in the construction industry for a custom home builder. My social life also played as a distraction from studying.

I was your typical college student who was lost and unsure about what career path best suited me until I took a real estate class from WMU professor Tim Scheu. I still remember sitting in his office talking to him about my interest in real estate. He guided me to an internship with a commercial brokerage firm, Colliers International (formerly Grubb & Ellis). It was my first “white collar” job, as my twin brother says.

That internship is what grounded me in a career path. It opened my eyes to what was possible and exposed me to successful people in the industry. I also attribute a big part of my personal growth to a book by Dale Carnegie called How To Win Friends And Influence People. The book is what I would call the basic psychology of business. It’s surprising how simple the concepts are and how many people don’t understand or practice them.

My move to California was both personal and emotional. My mother passed away in 2008 after fighting a long battle with cancer. I was 25. The heartache of watching her slowly die from cancer did something to me that I can’t describe. My perspective on life was altered. Because of my father, we all came out of it stronger and a more loving family. It was a turning point in my life and California was on the horizon of my windshield with my car packed, dog in the front seat and 2,100 miles ahead of me.

I interviewed for countless jobs with real estate firms, but I didn’t shine among all the applicants due to my average grades and resume that screamed: “rookie from out of state.” After a couple of terrible corporate sale jobs that I hated, I landed a job with a non-profit as a Real Estate Development Manager. It was the experience I was looking for teaching me all about real estate development in the City of LA. I was mentored and trained by wonderful consultants and attorneys as I took the lead acquiring, financing and building two apartment buildings serving as permanent supportive housing for homeless youth in the city. It was real estate with all the feel-good of a mission like that. However, it wasn’t a place to earn a good living in this expensive city.

I went on to work for a few different big players in the Los Angeles multi-family apartment business. My employment with each of them was what taught me how to build a career as a real estate entrepreneur. They taught me how to use debt, structured equity, build financial models and execute real estate deals.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I haven’t met anyone who has had a smooth road in this thing we call life. We all have our struggles and challenges that make us into who we are. Each struggle I’ve had has brought me to where I am now, and I wouldn’t change a thing. If I could look at the ones that shaped me the most it would be the loss of my mother, moving to the big city, dealing with my mother-in-law and finding people to work for that allow a work/life balance.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about C & D Partners – what should we know?
I started C & D Partners in 2012 as a moonlight company while I was working for other people. My wife is my partner (she’s the “C” and always comes first) hence the name. We started the company to buy a small apartment building in a tough area of LA. We fixed it up and remodeled the units inside and sold it, giving us our first profit. We took everything from the sale and put it into two lots in Hollywood with tear down homes located on them. I put together a team to develop the lots into 4 single family homes and convinced a bank to lend me the money for construction. Once the project got some traction in 2016, I left my employer and focused on developing this property. I quickly found several other opportunities to build similar projects. So, I dialed for dollars and raised as much money as I could to do another project. Now, we have 9 homes under construction in great locations in the city and are working on building a $10 million dollar fund to develop and build apartments for transit-oriented communities along all the new metro stations being built in Los Angeles. Our goal is to be a developer-builder that will hold assets for the long term. In essence, I am building a company around the housing crisis in LA.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Most of the credit goes to the women in my life. My wife, who continually supports my dreams and vision of the company I want to build. She listens to me longer than she needs about my ranting with daily challenges or new ideas. Her support and love are the secret sauce in all of this.

I also owe a lot of credit to my Business Operations Manager, Susan Saelee. She was my first employee and she took a leap of faith quitting her fancy corporate job (from my previous employer) to come work with me and help me with everything.

There is a long list of people that played a big role in where I am today. They have helped guide me and show me how to use certain tools to accomplish my goals. A few names include; John Walsh, Jay Kerner, Steve Heimler, Curtis Estes, Jim Smith, Chuck Garrett, Geoff Bogart, Jodi Milks, Bob Hart, Bernie LaFianza, Tom Jonsson and Will James.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.c-dpartners.com
• Email: info@c-dpartners.com
• Instagram: @cd.partners

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.