Meet The Real Estate Broker Who Helped Pusha-T Bring The Kitsuen Ramen Bar To D.C.
LaMean Koroma is changing the landscape of Washington D.C. with his presence in the real estate industry.
According to Koroma, there are roughly ten Black commercial real estate agents representing tenants in the district. He is one of the few and has been since 2015. After graduating from Howard University in 2012, Koroma, 30, decided to use his knack for sales and communication, plus his passion for architecture, to pursue commercial real estate. Now, Koroma is a senior advisor at Cresa, one of the largest tenant-exclusive representation firms in the world. He works with hospitality and financial services companies, government contractors and technology firms. He has a fun rolodex of contacts with whom he performs complex transactions with.
“My goal with every client is to form a long lasting partnership,” Koroma says. “We’re working together to make their dreams come true. Whether it's a home, office, a restaurant or lounge — people have amazing ideas they just have to bring to fruition and you need a home to do that.”
Last year, Koroma represented the Kitsuen group and helped solidify a 10-year lease for the innovative, hot spot ramen & hookah restaurant on H St. With Koroma’s assistance, the Kitsuen group, comprised of D.C. club owners Wayne Johnson, Tony Perry (Saint Yves, Abigail), NBA players Jerian and Jeremi Grant, entrepreneur Kyle Eubanks, and Pusha-T, were able to close the deal in less than 30 days.
Photo credit: Rey Lopez/Eater DC
“It started as an idea between two very close friends of mine: Wayne and Tony,” Koroma recalls. “They had an idea for a ramen and hookah bar concept, essentially in an emerging up-and-coming area where it just made too much sense to do there…We were very intentional, we knew what we wanted to do. We had some issues with the original general contractor, so we had to do a restart and a refresh. As part of that restart and refresh, people had been waiting for the concept to come to life. From concerts and parties, [Wayne & Tony] had a relationship with Pusha-T and it just made too much sense to bring him into the fold and have him put his stamp on it and his influence. He believes in the concept. It was just a beautiful storm after that.”
In addition to bringing to life cool spaces like Kitsuen, Koroma has launched his passion project, a candle company called Melted Element. Find out more about this trailblazer in the full interview below — by Christopher Harris