Background
History
Brian Lessler | President
Dr. Hiroshi Morihara | Chief Executive Officer

History:
Our company has its roots in the development of Persimmon Country Club Community, a residential community with more than 200 homes surrounding a private championship golf course just outside Portland, Oregon.. Persimmon has won awards from numerous organizations, including the Home Builder’s Association, the City of Gresham, the Audubon Society, and Oregon Landscape Contractors Association.

For years we mostly built custom or semi-custom homes in the Persimmon community, but also built custom homes in John’s Landing and on Hayden Island in Portland. We built our first townhomes at Gresham Station in 2004 and loved the idea of building lifestyle homes for people who didn’t want a yard. In 2006, we made the commitment to build only green certified homes – condos, townhomes, and single family homes – and really focused on expanding our efforts to the greater Portland, Oregon /Vancouver, Washington Metro Area.

Our goal is to exceed your expectations about price point and quality when you purchase a home from us. We try very hard to make your new home purchase a very positive experience. For this reason we are dedicated to quality control and excellent aftercare. Our reputation depends on your satisfaction, and whether you will recommend us without reservation to your friends, family, and anyone who is looking for a new home after purchasing from us.

Brian Lessler, President
Brian has over 30 years of experience in real estate development and construction management. In the last 14 years alone, Brian and his team have constructed over 80 custom and lifestyle homes at Persimmon, and numerous custom homes in the best neighborhoods throughout the Portland metro area.

Prior to Persimmon Brian spent 8 1/2 years in commercial development where he developed and constructed business parks and office complexes. Some of his tenants included Nike, Mentor Graphics, and Sequent Computer Systems. Brian also managed over 2.5 million square feet of commercial real estate, as vice president and regional partner for the Koll Company.

A native Oregonian, Brian holds a BA in Business from the University of Oregon School of Business. He and his family have lived in Persimmon since 1993. Brian has been active in the Gresham community through his involvement with Rotary and the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce as a member of the Executive Board, Government Affairs Council and Gresham Development Advisory Group. He is also on the East Metro Economic Alliance Board.


Dr. Hiroshi Morihara, Chief Executive Officer
Hiroshi holds a MS from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D from the University at Buffalo (New York) in Mechanical Engineering. Over the 20 years he worked for Union Carbide Corp., he led a team in developing an ultra pure silicon process that is still the best way to produce semi-conductor grade silicon today. He retired from Union Carbide in 1987 to become an independent consultant and continues to use his science background. Concerned about our world’s dependence on oil, he is working at the moment with a team to perfect cellulosic ethanol production from alder and poplar trees. He feels this technology is a great fit for Oregon, where trees grow like…well…trees.

Hiroshi first became involved in real estate in 1988 when he founded Columbia Glenn Development Company in Vancouver, Washington. Shortly thereafter he started development of Persimmon Country Club Community.

Community advocacy is very important to Hiroshi and he often takes on leadership roles in whatever organization he joins. Over the last twelve years he has served as President of the Mt. Hood Community College Foundation, as founding Board President of the East Metro Economic Alliance, and as the founding Board Chair of the Oregon Science and Technology Partnership (OSTP). In 2006 he was voted Gresham’s Citizen of the Year, an honor bestowed by the East Metro Realtor Association and the Gresham Chamber of Commerce. He also is a member of the Portland Ambassador Program and serves on the board of the Oregon Business Association.

Hiroshi met Brian Lessler in 1992 during the development of Persimmon Country Club Community. They recognized their shared values early on and have been creating other great neighborhoods that benefit the surrounding communities ever since.