PHOTO: Courtesy MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate
Brendan Gill
President and chief operating officer at MacKenzie Ventures
Brendan Gill may be new to the chief operating officer role at MacKenzie Ventures, but he’s no stranger to the industry.
MacKenzie tapped Gill as COO last year, after a 16-year career at the Maryland-based commercial real estate firm run by his father, CEO Gary Gill. During that time, the younger Gill helped launch MacKenzie’s investment group and grew its property management division’s 3 million-square-foot portfolio in 2010 to 10 million square feet today.
Gill isn’t slowing down. Today he oversees the construction, property management, capital structuring, investment, development and brokerage divisions. MacKenzie’s brokerage group handled roughly $450 million worth of deals in 2022, while its construction business tackles between $40 million and $50 million in projects annually, Gill said.
MacKenzie is also in charge of office leasing at The Village of Cross Keys, a mixed-use development that reached 95 percent leased earlier this year. The property was just 40 percent leased in July 2020.
“We’re kind of bringing it back to the glory of what we went to when we were younger, going shopping with our moms, having lunch and growing up in the Baltimore area,” Gill said. “It was kind of an icon, and it’s exciting to see that come back to being the icon that it is.”
Outside of its leasing business, MacKenzie has focused on brokering a handful of warehouse sales in the Washington, D.C., region. MacKenzie handled the sale of a 60,000-square-foot building at 6340 Security Boulevard for $5 million last year, the 28,000-square-foot warehouse at 521 Digiulian Boulevard for $4.22 million in February, and two properties at 2300 Eskow Avenue and 629 South Philadelphia Boulevard for a combined $6 million in March.
Gil expects to keep busy in the second half of 2023 and capitalize on a potential economic downturn.
“I think there’s going to be new investment for people that can reposition properties,” Gill said. “In our world, whether it’s brokerage, property management, construction or capital, volatility and movement is good for our business. … It’s just about being ready to strike.”
