Trademark Property Co., a national developer, owner and operator of mixed-use real estate, has named a new president and chief operating officer with a history of working on behalf of one of the largest real estate owners in the world to help guide its growth.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based firm has brought in Kevin Kessinger, who most recently helped lead asset management for ShopCore Properties, a Blackstone company, as its new president and chief operating officer. He brings decades of experience structuring, directing and managing commercial real estate and operating teams to his new role at Trademark to help cement Trademark's position in the industry, according to a statement from Trademark.
“We have attracted one of the retail industry’s brightest talents to join and influence our team,” Trademark founder and CEO Terry Montesi said in the statement. “Kevin has substantial experience successfully operating large retail and mixed-use platforms for institutional owners, operators, and funds, and he will apply those learnings to bolster our operations, systems, processes, and people.”
Kessinger is tasked with increasing Trademark's footprint through his experience with navigating complex projects in challenging environments and adding new operational innovations such as artificial intelligence-powered technology, which is being used by other real estate firms. For example, CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic recently spoke to Dallas business executives about how its brokerage firm is using AI to help it manage commercial real estate more efficiently.
In his new leadership role, Kessinger will also oversee the growth and execution of Trademark's pipeline of mixed-use and multifamily projects. In diversifying its business, Trademark expanded into multifamily development in 2021 with a few projects in the design and entitlement phase. Currently, Trademark oversees a 17-property portfolio with more than 8.2 million feet of mixed-use and retail projects across the country.
Before joining Trademark, Kessinger was the executive vice president of asset management at ShopCore Properties. He had initially consulted for Blackstone during its due diligence and later acquisition of ShopCore before joining the firm to oversee its transactions, asset management, property management and other functions.
Prior to his role at ShopCore, he oversaw the institutional funds portfolio at DDR Corp., which is now Site Centers, as a senior vice president of funds management.