4 hours Ago By David Parker, Calgary Herald
Continuing its national expansion strategy, Kipling Group, one of Canada’s largest independent full-service property management companies, has chosen Calgary as its headquarters to serve Western Canada. Based in Toronto, it has offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., and Edmonton to serve clients, but has opened an office in Calgary’s TD Square to cover operations in the West.
“We have ambitious growth plans and believe Calgary is the right location to serve as our home base for Western Canada. We are thrilled to now be part of an exciting and growing city,” says Michael Case, COO of Kipling Group. Case is familiar with the city in visiting existing clients that have real estate in Calgary.
His experience with former positions with Cushman Wakefield, JLL as managing director, and executive vice-president of office leasing in the Toronto office of CBRE means he has a good knowledge of our market, encouraged by the improvement in office leasing. In deliberating on opening an office in Calgary he knew the importance of hiring a leader who had intimate knowledge of the local real estate market and strong connections in the industry. He says he was fortunate to persuade Sheena Whitfield to join Kipling Group as vice-president of operations for Western Canada.
It’s a perfect match, as Whitfield has been involved in the Calgary real estate industry for the past 25 years, primarily in property management, and with an excellent reputation among clients and peers. Her entry point was as a receptionist, but soon climbed the ladder, and her true career in real estate began with Colliers. After six years there she joined an independently owned company serving as general manager for southern Alberta, before accepting a position with JLL.
For seven and a half years she helped build its Canadian property management group division, earning the company’s Property Management MVP for Canada in 2020. Whitfield will lead all operations for Kipling Group across Western Canada, and act as broker of record for Alberta. She joins a company with a strong momentum, optimistic about this city’s market possibilities, and with a positive outlook on spreading farther afield.
Case says the company has many clients who have assets in the West or want to acquire them, and they have been urging Kipling Group to have feet on the ground here. It is a full-service company offering retail, industrial, office, multi-family residential and institutional property management, focusing on creating profitable and well-managed real estate investments for its diverse clientele. Founded in 2008, today it has more than 150 employees and currently manages more than 280 million square feet of real estate across all asset classes, representing $10 billion of assets under management.
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