Chair Emeritus
Kem is renown as much for establishing one of the most successful commercial real estate and renewable energy companies in the Mountain West as he is for his leadership and investment in building Salt Lake City into a premier city for business, the arts, health care, education, rodeo, and public policy. The Gardner family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Kem has built relationships, established partnerships and given back to the community he loves. Since 1973 he has been a fixture in the development community, serving as president of The Boyer Company for 30 years. In 2004 he established Gardner Company and served as its chairman until turning over the daily management to his son, Christian in 2011. He is remaining active in the company serving as Chair Emeritus. During his 50 years in the real estate business, he has been involved in the development of some 3000 residential lots and more than 35 million square feet of corporate office and medical buildings, retail shopping centers, life-style centers, hotels, and industrial/manufacturing facilities in Utah, Idaho and Nevada. Kem’s contributions to the community are numerous. Some of the highlights include helping to establish the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, chairing the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera board of trustees to establish a world-class symphony and a superior regional opera company, and successfully fundraising for the Intermountain Medical Center and establishing the Kem C. Gardner Transformation Center, Supply Chains, and Women and Newborn facilities. Kem was the finance chairman of the Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee and finance chairman of the Olympic Games. He was instrumental in bringing in Mitt Romney to run the Olympic Games. He has served as chairman of the Days of ’47 Rodeo for 11 years, building a new arena at the State Fairgrounds and elevating it to a top five professional rodeo in the nation. He has served as chair of the United Way and was the original chairman of the Salt Lake Airport Authority transforming the Salt Lake International Airport into the Delta transportation hub with the capacity to handle 26 million annual passengers. His legacy reaches into almost every segment of the community, and he continues to contribute his time and resources to lift it even higher. Kem’s focus in charitable giving has been for the arts, health care, including mental health, and education with six buildings carrying his name. He and his wife Carolyn are the parents of seven children and 30 grandchildren.
Education
Board Positions (Past and Present)
CEO
Christian Gardner is CEO and Chairman of the Gardner Group, a privately-owned collective of companies driven by his commitment to sustainability, innovation, quality real estate development and re-investing back into communities through philanthropy. He has spent a large part of his career focused on the Gardner family’s 40-year-old, full-service commercial real estate company specializing in the development of corporate office, retail, industrial and medical buildings. In 2018 Christian co-founded rPlus Energies, a subsidiary of the Gardner Group, dedicated to building robust utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure across America. Most recently he co-founded Philo Ventures, a startup studio investing in and supporting early-stage companies with a sustainability focus. Christian is actively engaged in the leadership of his companies and is deeply committed to causes spanning education, the arts, mental health, homelessness, sports and the environment. He embodies his family legacy of dedicating time and resources to build stronger communities. He is married to Marie Gochnour and has 6 children.
EDUCATION
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ROLES
Managing Director, Gardner Foundation
Kimberly manages the Gardner Foundation – leading the administration of the Gardner family’s philanthropic activities, community grants and real estate property donations. She has been active in real estate development since college when the Gardners were business partners with The Boyer Company. After graduating she moved to Boston where she spent two years working on Mitt Romney’s campaign for his first run for the U.S. Senate in 1993. Kimberly eventually returned to Utah to work full-time at The Boyer Company executing $500 million in construction loans and overseeing permitting during her tenure. In 2004 when Gardner was established, she was a driving force in the four-person nascent company. Today, in addition to her foundation leadership, she continues to oversee the Gardner property portfolio that is jointly owned with The Boyer Company. Kimberly is a mother of four, an avid reader and indulges her music passion at the piano.
Board Positions
President
Brady has distinguished himself throughout his storied business career by applying four principles to every leadership role he assumes, grow top-line revenue along with bottom-line profit, take care of customers, empower employees, and give back to the community. He has applied this formula to successfully grow companies in three continents. His 16-year tenure with Fortune 200 company, Cummins Inc., took him on a global circuit in management positions to Beijing, Singapore, Johannesburg and domestically in the West. Brady repeatedly raised the bar, improving company performance in every position while focusing on people. In 2017, he joined Vivint Inc. where he served as Executive Vice President over all of operations and helped to take the smart home technology company public in 2020. He managed nearly 7,000 employees with an annual budget of $500 million. He has also been a compassionate leader, launching an HIV/AIDS program to employees while in Africa and initiating a diversity and inclusion tour to understand and address social justice issues domestically. Brady’s track record for expanding businesses, improving profitability, and passion for helping others reach their full potential led him to Gardner where he has been leading its strategic direction and operations since 2022. He is married to Kristen Southwick and has 4 children. He is active in community leadership roles including serving as Chairman of Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) board of Trustees.
Community
CFO
Brad has been leading Gardner and its subsidiaries’ financial strategy since 2009. He oversees the finances and accounting of Gardner’s development pursuits and property management. During his tenure, he has administered the development and management of over 30 million square feet of diversified property. Brad’s foray into the real estate industry began in 1991 at Zion’s Securities. Later he worked at Cottonwood Partners where he worked on real estate development and acquisition projects nationally before joining a start-up homebuilding company. At Gardner, he helped expand the company’s Idaho presence with a 17-story high-rise office building in downtown Boise. His expertise now spans property types including retail centers, multi-family residential, office, industrial, medical campuses and senior living. Expanding beyond the commercial real estate industry, he evaluated investment options to establish a Gardner company presence in the energy sector and most recently helped create rPlus Energies, which is developing utility scale renewable energy infrastructure across America.
Certifications
Board/Community Affiliations
Chief Investment Officer
Eli Mills has been a part of the Utah commercial real estate landscape for over 30 years. He has completed more than 400 transactions valued at over $4.5 billion. Eli has represented and advised many of the largest real estate investors in the United States introducing many institutional and private investors to the Utah marketplace. He was a founding member of NAI Utah Commercial Real Estate Inc. (now Newmark Grubb Acres) and was on the leadership board of NAI’s Global Investment Council. Subsequently, he spent thirteen years at CBRE spearheading the number one multifamily and office investment sales teams in Utah. Eli has raised capital and sold many of the largest commercial projects in Utah. He was on the national CBRE institutional office and multifamily teams and is a popular speaker and respectable thought leader on capital markets and the Utah real estate market. He has established a reputation as a data driven and detail oriented professional with great integrity. In 2022 he joined Gardner and leads the company’s relationships with the investment community and oversees the investment process and evaluation of all projects. He is married and has 8 children and one grandchild.
Awards & Achievements
Managing Partner, Idaho
For the past decade Dave has led the development interests for Gardner’s Idaho office. He has been devoted to Boise’s progress since arriving from California to attend Boise State University. Dave’s diversified investment and development portfolio includes over 6 million square feet of real estate including industrial, multi-family housing, student housing, hotels, office, surgery centers, restaurants, and historic re-development properties. With over two decades of experience in the industry, he has a deep understanding of the real estate market and a proven record of delivering successful development projects. Notable among them is his leadership developing City Center Plaza that surrounds the iconic US Bank Building in downtown Boise. City Center Plaza is a mixed-use project, which includes Valley Regional Transit’s Main Street Station’s underground transportation hub, Boise State’s Computer Science Department, Greater Boise Auditorium District’s expansion, and Clearwater Analytics’ headquarters. He also spearheaded the historic renovation of the Fidelity and Kount buildings in Boise’s downtown. As a managing partner for Gardner, Dave applies his passion for improving the community with his commitment for delivering results. He is a driving force behind the success of Gardner’s Idaho projects. Prior to Gardner, he spent 13 years as Director of Investments at Colliers International, achieving the number one or number two top broker status for over a decade.
Partner, Utah
Mark has spent the last 14 years of his 20-year real estate development career with Gardner. He has both a civil engineering and master’s in real estate development degree, which have prepared him with technical and industry knowledge needed to succeed in leading large-scale projects. As VP of development, he oversees the entire development process from acquisition and underwriting to land planning and construction. Mark enjoys the multifaceted collaboration that development requires as well as finding solutions to complex issues for both Gardner and its clients. He has led the development team in creating over 9 million square feet of real estate. Mark’s marquee projects include the Zions Bank Technology Center, Mountain America Credit Union and the Utah-based Adobe and Vivint campuses. Perhaps his most challenging and rewarding projects have been the Homeless Shelters in Salt Lake City, which placed him at the confluence of public policy, public debate, and compassion for the underserved. Mark is married to Brooke Murdock and has five children. He enjoys competition whether it’s a game of pickleball with his colleagues, a soccer match, or achieving his personal best in a triathlon.
Professional Associations
Partner, Nevada
Mark’s career achievements in real estate development are as varied as they are impactful. His diverse commercial development career began with The Boyer Company in Utah where he spent 28 years providing development and management services to government and business clients. In 2015, he joined Gardner as a leading member of the development team. During his extensive career, he has managed land acquisition, design, construction, leasing, financing and project management functions on over 2.3 million square feet of commercial office, industrial, and housing projects. Combined budgets for these projects exceed $400 million. His most notable recent projects include the 122-acre Harry Reid UNLV Research and Technology Park, which will eventually include 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space in Las Vegas, Nevada; the Hill Air Force Base privatized family housing project, a 270-acre master planned residential community comprised of 1,018 on-base housing units in northern Utah; and Summit Vista, Utah’s first Life Plan Retirement Community in Taylorsville, Utah. This eventual 1,600-unit campus features a clubhouse, three restaurants and extensive amenities and allows residents to age in place with care ranging from independent living through assisted living, to memory care.
Board Member
President of Asset Management
As leader of Gardner’s property management, Laura oversees a team of 19 and a management portfolio of roughly 3,200,000 square feet of class-A office, mixed use, retail, medical office, and industrial assets in Utah, Idaho and Nevada. She supervises the management of Gardner’s portfolio as well as third-party owned assets. Under her leadership, the property management team ensures that assets perform financially, are physically well-maintained, and tenants are satisfied. Since 2014, she has been a part of Gardner where she has applied her business acumen from her previous roles as operator of an e-commerce company and as an analyst at an economic consulting firm. What she enjoys most about her role is leading her team -- mentoring and developing individuals to become outstanding professionals and to establish Gardner as one of the best property management companies in the industry. Laura lives in Boise with her three children.
Awards
Professional Affiliations
President of Construction
Ryan’s nearly 20-year career in construction management has been driven by his desire for excellence and his passion for the built environment. He graduated from BYU with a degree in construction management and continues to teach in BYU’s Construction Management Master’s Program. His experience and ability to form strong working relationships with general contractors, trade partners, and industry leaders earned him a spot on the “40 under 40” list from Utah Construction and Design magazine in 2019. Ryan spent nearly 10-years with a Top 100 ENR commercial general contractor before joining Gardner. Overseeing all construction projects, he collaborates with the development team through initial design, planning and budgeting and then manages bidding and construction until the project is completed and ready to turn over to the property management team. He has developed and managed over $2 billion in commercial, residential, industrial and infrastructure projects. His leadership mark is on over 200 buildings throughout Utah, Idaho and Nevada including Mountain America Credit Union Tower, Adobe’s Utah headquarters, Summit Vista retirement community, Harry Reid UNLV Research and Technology Park, University of Utah Healthcare’s ambulatory and rehab building, 26 Target retail buildings, 222 S. Main office tower in Salt Lake, The Children’s Center of Utah, and three homeless resource centers.
Memberships
HR Manager & Executive Assistant
Chantelle has served in essential roles at Gardner for the past 10 years. She assists Kem and Christian Gardner as their executive admin and supports company operations, community engagement and philanthropy. In addition, she oversees benefits, accounts receivables and payables as well as the HR functions relating to training, recruitment, onboarding and payroll. Chantelle plays an active role in Gardner’s support of the Days of ’47 Rodeo serving as the event’s secretary for the past 11 years.
VP of Design and Sustainability & Senior Development Manager
Liza has 25 years of professional experience as a licensed architect, designing and overseeing the construction of a broad range of projects. While studying for her architecture degree, she spent several years abroad, which broadened her perspective on sustainable and urban design. After several years designing for commercial clients in Utah, she joined Gardner in 2020 bringing her unique design, planning and energy efficient building expertise to the development team. She plays an expanded role as both architect and development manager, combining her talents to manage the complexities of large projects, inform the design process, and coordinate the interests of the design team, stakeholders, and partners. Sustainable building practices are more than just a professional responsibility to Liza. She is passionate about lowering the carbon footprint of the built environment and is a thought leader in the Utah marketplace.
Professional Affiliations:
Vice President Development
Ben has been part of the Utah commercial real estate industry since 2014. His career began at CBRE where he worked as an analyst and then as a broker. Immersed in the data that helped him generate quarterly and annual reporting on the market, he studied the trends and gained first-hand knowledge of the myriad factors that determine the direction of the real estate market and inform investment decisions. He also gained experience with commercial leasing and expanded his network within the brokerage community. In 2017 Ben joined Gardner where he is as an essential part of the development team. He leads projects from acquisition through financing, planning, design and construction. Ben enjoys fostering the variety of public and private relationships involved in development as well as the ability to create community landmarks that enhance the livability and viability of a region. As example, he worked with the Mike Jones family and the city of West Jordan to solve complex infrastructure constraints and entitle the family’s generational property into “Jones Landing,” a mixed-use development that will consist of approximately 4 million square feet of commercial buildings and 1,200 residential units. He has also directed the development of the Pluralsight headquarters, Zions Bancorporation Technology Center and phase 2 of Adobe’s Utah office.
Dan Stewart is a fourth-generation Nevadan with roots that run deep in his state and community. He has a diverse background in both the public and private sectors spanning engineering, banking, construction, real estate development and public service. Among Dan’s current professional activities, he is a partner and co-developer of Gardner’s UNLV Harry Reid Research and Technology Park, which will eventually include 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space in Las Vegas. His construction industry experience dates to the 1960s when he worked for the Stewart family’s Nevada Rock & Sand Company, eventually leading the heavy-construction company. In 1988 he took on a new role running Industrial Construction and Bonanza Materials. Later he spent 10 years at Basic Management, Inc., which has successfully developed more than 1,200 acres of retail, light industrial, commercial, and residential projects in the Henderson area. In 2004 he led the commercial construction for American Nevada Company, a developer and manager of commercial properties and master planned communities.
Business
Leadership Positions
Vice President Land Acquisitions & Leasing
Jordan joined Gardner in 2022 to facilitate the generation of new land acquisitions and development opportunities for the company. He helps with investment analysis, underwriting, due diligence coordination, negotiation assistance, and risk analysis. Jordan was a broker previously with Colliers and CBRE in Salt Lake City. During his career, he successfully leased a wide variety of office properties valuing more than $1.5 billion in total consideration in addition to closing over $350 million in land and investment transactions. Jordan executed many of Utah’s largest commercial transactions including a 329,000 square foot build-to-suit for the Gardner Group, and the largest office transaction comprising of 420,000-square-feet at the MicroFocus Tower in Provo. His international work includes securing land for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ temple sites in Southeast Asia, Europe and Australia. Jordan was recognized by the commercial real estate industry as Utah’s CCIM Top 3 Office Broker Finalists in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Senior Development Manager
Weston joined Gardner in 2012 as project manager. Since then, he has worked in various facets of real estate including project design, land planning, entitlements, and construction oversite for several Idaho development projects while working his way up to Senior Development Manager. Hard work and integrity are the approaches Weston takes when working on a project. He has successfully led his teams to complete over 500,000 square feet of office buildings, medical office space, apartments, residential developments, and assisted living and memory care facilities. Before joining Gardner, Weston was a broker at City Creek Reserve, a large real estate development company in Utah. Weston is always looking for ways to better serve the communities he lives in. He has been on the United Way of Treasure Valley Campaign Cabinet and is currently on the United Way of Treasure Valley board of directors. The primary motivation for Weston’s success is his family. Weston is married to Julianne, and they have four children.
Project Manager
Although Dave has been a part of Gardner since 2020, he is best known for being Boise’s longest serving Mayor from 1999 to 2020. He has called Treasure Valley home his entire life and is driven to leave his community better than he found it. Dave has long list of accomplishments to illustrate this including spearheading the building of 15 parks, 5 libraries, a community detox center and low income housing. As Senior Development Manager, he coordinates the efforts of the entitlement, leasing, design, finance, and construction teams. Dave has a wide network and can connect the right people to the right projects and help navigate city and country processes to bring a variety of project types to fruition. As a member of the Idaho State Barr, he is adept at navigating the legal processes as well. One of his first projects with Gardner was helping gain unanimous approval of the Ada County Commissioners for a 325 megawatt solar energy project developed with Gardner’s subsidiary, rPlus Energies. In his free time you will find him skiing with his daughter or down at the Basque Center in Boise.
Dave’s career has exposed him to a wide spectrum of the built environment from sound stage for film production to convenience stores, tennis centers, retail centers, multifamily housing, medical centers, custom homes, and numerous office buildings. He spent 24 years serving the dual role of developer and construction manager for L&T Construction, a mid-market developer/contractor in Orem, Utah. As a contractor under Gardner, he supervised the construction of some of the largest office campuses in the Wasatch Front. These included Vivint’s offices in Provo and Lehi, and the Lehi Station and Solution Reach office buildings. Dave joined Gardner in 2021 as an integral part of the development team and coordinates the finance, architecture, and construction aspects for master planning and design of commercial and multifamily residential projects. Dave has a passion for sustainable building and earned a 5-star Energy Star Rating for his 2003 residential home. He has been applying new design principles, building material advancements and techniques throughout his career. He has been a member of the Utah Valley Homebuilder’s Association in the past and has been involved in several Habitat for Humanity projects.
Construction Manager
Larren’s construction career began in 1976 while working side-by-side with his father in the Novack & Novack custom homebuilding business in Twin Falls, Idaho. After 38 years in the Magic Valley, he moved to Boise and began working with Gardner in 2015. As the construction manager for Idaho, Larren is responsible for ensuring projects are completed on-time, within budget, and constructed with superior quality and safety. He has a legacy of projects that bear his mark including the construction/remodeling of over 70 offices and retail spaces and the ground-up construction of 10 medical facilities located in Twin Falls, Boise, Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell. Larren has remodeled over 227,000 square feet of office space in the US Bank Building and over 40,000 square feet of office space at 8th and Main in downtown Boise. He also supervised the construction of the 400,000 square foot Addison Apartment Complex, home to over 230 residences. Larren has been actively involved in Idaho’s homebuilding and contracting associations for the past 30 years and has held leadership positions during much of his tenure. Outside of construction, he enjoys camping, hiking, fishing and floating adventures and visiting Boise’s downtown for music and a meal.
Professional Memberships
In the six years since receiving his undergraduate degree, Howard has excelled in a diverse array of professional positions and achieved several academic certifications, all of which have developed his knowledge and experience to make him an essential part of Gardner’s development team. His professional assignments span leadership of productivity and revenue improvements, cloud application management, sales operations, government procurement and grant writing. These positions have honed his ability to juggle a myriad of tasks and relationships required of a project manager at Gardner where he assists in taking projects from conception through completion – including project initiation, site control, feasibility analysis, financing, permitting, design, construction, and assuring building system operations. Working closely with the VP of Development, Howard has operated across the Gardner portfolio including industrial buildings, office parks, retail centers, storage facilities, and various federal government building and leasing projects. He is committed to improving communities through responsible real estate development and through his leadership of the Scooty Fund, which seeks to enhance the mental health of youth.
Development Associate
As part of the development team, Cole supports his colleagues across an array of functions, supporting the processes and managing the details from entitlement through construction. Since joining Gardner in 2021, he has worked on a variety of projects including office, industrial, residential, retail, and storage. Cole has been driven to join the commercial real estate industry since college. He received his undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Utah and was an active member of the University of Utah’s Real Estate and Finance Clubs and was a student leader of the Management Accounting Team. He sees his role at Gardner as an opportunity to learn, network, and improve our communities.
Professional memberships
Senior Property Manager
Dave has been managing Class A commercial properties since 2008 and has been driving the sustainability initiatives of the Gardner property management portfolio for the past several years. He leads a team of eight highly skilled building engineers and oversees the budgeting, reporting, leasing, CAM reconciliations and tenant relations. As a veteran of facilities management, he is a certified HVAC professional, as well as EPA 608 and Rocky Mountain Gas certified. Dave is an avid outdoor recreationalist and is on the waterways and trails in Utah at every opportunity. This love of nature has translated into a passion for protecting the environment through sustainable management of the properties under his leadership. He has been researching, implementing and measuring the impact of water conservation, building energy efficiency and rooftop solar over the past several years to transform Gardner’s 1.6 million square feet into leading examples of sustainably managed properties.
Chief Building Engineer
Darin has spent his 35-year career constructing and maintaining commercial building systems. In 2016 he became the chief building engineer, overseeing Gardner’s portfolio of 11 Class-A office buildings in Utah and Nevada. He mentors five Utah building engineers and co-manages the Yardi facilities management platform. He is responsible for the full range of HVAC systems, utilities, lighting, fire/life safety, maintenance functions and capital improvements. Darin also plays a critical role as the liaison between the design and construction teams to ensure building systems are being designed and integrated to achieve the best performance and efficiency.
Certifications:
Director of Engineering
Scott has over 33 years in the building engineering field and continues to build his competencies in both facility management and team leadership. He spent 30 years managing buildings in New York City before settling in Idaho in 2020. He has oversight of Gardner’s commercial portfolio in Idaho’s Treasure Valley, which includes 14 properties and a 6-member engineering team. Scott provides technical oversight, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement of the maintenance organization while delivering the highest level of efficiency and safety. He is also responsible for supervising mechanical and tenant improvement operations including energy management and budgets. Scott’s achievements in managing efficient buildings have been recognized with 13 Energy Star Ratings and two BOMA 360 awards, demonstrating that a building is outperforming the competition across all areas of operations and management. As director of engineering, he is the bridge between the engineering team and Gardner’s management team.
Board Positions (past)
Director of Tenant Relations
Suzie has a passion for people and a knack for remembering names and faces, which is why she is a perfect fit as Gardner’s tenant concierge at Boise’s City Center Plaza. Her previous positions as receptionist for accounting and real estate companies, and as a new patient coordinator at a medical office, prepared her to serve as the public face for some of Gardner’s premier managed properties. Her concierge services include helping to coordinate car detailing, oil changes, dry cleaning, bike shares, and supplying fresh flowers. Since 2016, she has been the go-to resource for over 1600 tenants. In her free time, she enjoys watching college football and basketball games with her husband, traveling to visit 11 grandchildren and doing jigsaw puzzles.
Property Manager II
Rachael’s career has always found her in client-facing positions, whether working as a agent for a recruiting and staffing firm or the general manager for a global company offering flexible work spaces. She enjoys delivering the highest level of customer service and was a perfect fit for the demands of a commercial real estate property manager when she joined the Gardner Idaho office in 2018. Rachael is responsible for tenant relations, financial performance and the maintenance of her portfolio of building assets. Her portfolio includes the iconic 8th and Main building in downtown Boise, an 18-story Class-A office and mixed-use building; City Center Plaza -- office, retail and transit center; and Park Medical Office Building in Boise. When she isn’t engaging with clients and tenants, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, traveling to destination beaches, reading and enjoying the small things in life.
Property Manager III
Danielle is a 20-year veteran of property management and experienced in every phase of the property lifecycle — from new construction to renovating aging structures. She loves the diversity of her profession and engages with architects, leasing teams, tenants and contractors. In addition to managing a portfolio of properties, she crunches the number to prepare capital improvement budgets. Danielle has been with Gardner’s Idaho office since 2019 and will be part of the transition team redeveloping the Boise Factory Outlet mall and Nampa Gateway. In her free time, you’ll find her in the mountains rafting, hiking, biking and skiing with her husband and two kids.
Past Board Positions
Assistant Property Manager
Rachel’s career in property management kicked off in 2017 when she joined Gardner’s Idaho property management team. She assists the property managers with reporting, accounting, tenant needs and more and is training to eventually manage her own portfolio of buildings. Rachel works with a highly experienced management team that operates a range of building types spanning office, retail, medical buildings, historic structures and industrial buildings. She is a native of Idaho who explored other parts of world before realizing that there’s no place like home and returned to roost in Boise with her husband and family. For the sport of it, Rachel and her husband are Scottish Game athletes.
Building Engineer
Prior to his career in facilities management, Mohammed was the U.S. liaison to the Iraqi military and was helping to construct water wells throughout the region for the well-being of local residents. After immigrating to the U.S., he applied his technical knowledge and work ethic to maintaining a portfolio of Class-A offices. He has been with Gardner since 2020 and manages the Vivint office complex at the mouth of Utah’s Provo Canyon and the corporate headquarters of Vivint home security. More than 850 employees utilize the three-story, 100,000 square feet campus. Mohammed also manages the building headquarters for CHG Healthcare, a 280,000 square feet building in Midvale, Utah with the capacity to host 1800 employees.
Steve is a 30-year veteran of the building maintenance trade, including a decade spent with Colliers International as Assistant Chief at California Public Employees Retirement System Headquarters (CalPERS), and another 5 years maintaining the iconic “Ziggurat” building in West Sacramento, California. Steve joined Gardner in 2021 and is responsible for another landmark building, 8th and Main in downtown Boise — an 18-story Class-A office and mixed-use building. He oversees the day-to-day operations of preventative maintenance and repair services for all tenants which include HVAC, controls system, plumbing, electrical, fire/life safety and carpentry services. Additionally, he assists with budgets, capital expenditures, utilization of labor, implementation of maintenance policies and procedures and directs the on-site team members and contractors. Steve enjoys a good challenge and loves to problem solve, which makes him an excellent engineer. When he is not at work, he is out fishing, camping, hiking, shooting, riding dirt bikes and enjoying family vacations.
Community Involvement
Brody is a journeyman electrician with over 24 years of professional experience. Able to diagnose and fixed just about anything, he is a High Voltage (HV) certified electrician, an apprentice plumber and a certified Infrared Thermographer, enabling him to analyze buildings systems. Brody manages Savage Services’ corporate headquarters within the View 72 Corporate Center in Midvale, Utah. This 4-story, 80,000 square feet, LEEDS Silver Certified office building is a flagship in the Gardner portfolio. He also manages View 8, a 127,485 square feet office building in the View 72 Corporate Center with notable tenants, Marriott International and Zagg. View 8 achieved a LEED 2009 Core and Shell Silver certification. It features onsite solar energy production on the roof and carports.
After 22 years in maintenance for the multi-family housing industry, Shawn joined Gardner’s Idaho office in 2022. A life-long passion for fixing things has made him into an accomplished building engineer. In his role, he is responsible for the maintenance of a building’s HVAC, mechanical, electrical, utilities and lighting systems. His portfolio comprises properties on Grove Street in downtown Boise: Lincoln retail center, with includes a coffee house, café and offices; 1419 Grove retail center; and the Linen Building, which is a historic and iconic building office and event space. When Shawn isn’t working, you can find him fishing Idaho’s waterways with his son.
In 2005 Mark entered the building maintenance and construction trade while living in California. He relocated to Idaho in 2019 and joined Gardner. He is responsible for maintaining building facilities and equipment necessary to keep tenants healthy, safe, comfortable and productive. His property portfolio includes City Center Plaza — a Class-A, nine-story retail and office building in Boise’s downtown and Cherry Wood retail center in Meridian. In his free time, he enjoys riding dirt bikes with his family, camping, fishing and hunting.
Jason is a master plumber with 22 years of professional experience and part of the Gardner team since 2020. He is responsible for maintaining the operations of all building systems in his property portfolio, including HVAC, mechanical and electrical and assuring tenants are comfortable in their environment. He manages the 125,000 square feet Lone Peak Class-A office building in Lehi, Utah; the 180,000 square feet Weave office building in Lehi, and the Veterans Affairs (VA) building in South Jordan, home to the VA Regional Office, VA office of Information Technology, VA Regional Council as well as VA audiology, dental and dialysis specialties.
Canaan has over 20 years of experience maintaining commercial properties including HVAC, mechanical, electrical and lighting systems. He manages Lehi Station, a 136,530 square feet, 5-story office building adjacent to the Lehi Front Runner Station, and Solution Reach, a 145,646 square feet, Class-A office building in Lehi, Utah. Canaan is Gardner’s in-house professional managing the YARDI FM platform that monitors preventative maintenance and work order tracking for our Utah and Nevada properties. Clients and tenants count on him for his reliable service, technical expertise and contract management.
Zach has been in the facilities management field since 2016. Previously he maintained the Boise Center Convention Center before joining Gardner in 2020. He is responsible for properties in downtown Boise including the historic Fidelity and Kount buildings with retail on the street level and offices above. His flagship property is the US Bank building -- the tallest building in Idaho at 19 stories high. Like most engineers, Zach loves a good challenge and enjoys problem solving and troubleshooting buildings and mechanical systems. In his free time he enjoys mountain biking, motorcycles, camping and spending time with his wife and two dogs.
Craig is a journeyman electrician with 36 years of experience. He manages one of the newest additions to the Gardner portfolio, the iconic Pluralsight headquarters in Draper, Utah’s I-15 corridor. Overlooking the valley, the expansive 348,251 square feet campus features a full-service kitchen, cafeteria, lounges, meeting spaces, offices, and state of the art building systems that Craig is responsible for operations, maintenance and repairs on a daily basis. Craig has many other skills including millwork, HVAC, plumbing and painting.
Morgan has been emersed in the construction and machining trades since his youth. His family was involved in commercial and residential development where he participated in an assortment of activities pertinent to the business. Later he became a computer numerical control (CNC) machinist, operating machine tools controlled by a computer to manufacture parts. Since 2014 he has been in residential remodeling and became a licensed realtor in 2020. As a building engineering for Gardner’s Idaho office, he is responsible for the maintenance of building systems for Nampa Gateway retail center, Park Medical Office Building in Meridian and St. Luke's Clinic in Boise. In his spare time, Morgan indulges in his appreciation for architecture and design and can be found outdoors with his family where he enjoys photography and biking adventures.
Certifications and Training
Utility Engineer
Sitani Folau has been with Gardner for 15 years, working in residential and commercial construction and most recently spent several years on the property management team. From 2009 to 2017 he was the general contractor for Gardner Homes — scheduling and overseeing day to day operations from groundbreaking to final completion on new residential homes in the Sunset Hills community in West Valley City, Utah and the Riverwalk community in South Jordan. Sitani is currently part of Gardner’s facility engineering team, which is responsible for maintaining Class-A office and mixed-use properties.
Dan has been the head custodian of the Boise Outlets for the past 18 years and became part of the Gardner team when the company bought the mall in 2021. With intimate knowledge of the property, he plays a vital role in maintaining it. Dan is a native of Idaho and in his free time he heads north with his wife to enjoy fishing the waterways near Cascade.
Legal & Financial Relationship Director
Matt possesses the unique combination of a finance degree and a law degree, enabling him to handle a range of legal issues inherent with real estate development as well as the financial acumen to execute debt financing. He has been with Gardner since 2016 and prior to entering the commercial real estate industry, he practiced law for 10 years. Matt maintains long-term relationships with lenders and is the liaison with outside counsel. His strength is his ability to look at an issue from multiple perspectives and find the best path forward. He enjoys working with colleagues to achieve mutual goals and is the unseen talent behind many of Gardner’s signature projects. He enjoys a good challenge at work and outside of it, as epitomized by his passion for summiting mountain peaks.
Senior Financial Analyst
Scott has been in the financial services industry with a focus on multifamily housing (MFH) properties since 2013. He has worked for an MFH brokerage, a private equity partnership and a real estate fund – underwriting over $2 billion and closing $250 million in real estate throughout his career. He enjoys discovering what factors will make a deal work and creating the deal structure. He’s also skilled in creating databases and performing market research, which led him to becoming the lead market researcher for the MFH market in Utah. Scott joined Gardner in 2022 with an interest in expanding into other commercial real estate property types and experiencing the scale and scope of the projects Gardner typifies.
Financial Analyst
Rifat loves solving the mathematical puzzles that the financing profession presents. With a master’s degree in finance, and another in business analytics, she is well equipped to take on the challenges of commercial development financing. She takes great satisfaction in shaping the numbers that enable the built environment. In her role at Gardner, Rifat measures the feasibility and profitability of new development projects and works closely with the investment, finance, development teams.
Director of Accounting and FP&A Controller
Lee has merged his love for numbers with his passion to help build sustainable, community focused real estate — a combination that drew him to Gardner in 2022. His 15-year career has been focused in finance and real estate accounting. Lee was part of the Valley Fair Mall redevelopment project that transformed West Valley, Utah’s city center, and he was influential in the acquisition and redevelopment of Red Cliffs Mall in Saint George, Utah. In his lead role at Gardner, he supervises the accounting team and manages all accounting functions including financial statements, ad hoc analysis, financial planning, and strategic decision-making with the executive team. As a native of Utah, Lee understands the importance that strong communities play in continuing to make the state a desirable place to live. He is as committed to quality real estate development as he is to organizations that work to enhance the lives of all residents. He volunteers at the Utah Food Bank, Utah Association of Intellectual Disabilities and House of Hope, which provides treatment for women with substance use disorders and their children.
Controller
Scott has been with Gardner since 2011 and has helped the company through a tremendous period of growth by supporting budget, credit, debt management, insurance, tax, treasury, and bank and partner relationships. His professional career spans 27 years in accounting and controller positions within the commercial real estate development, retail and public accounting sectors. Scott and his wife to Amy and have three boys. In his free time you will find him on the golf course or enjoying a tennis or pickleball match.
Property Management Accountant
Doug has been in the accounting profession for the past 15 years and has experience in a variety of industries including advertising, financial services and healthcare. In addition to his accounting acumen, he is also skilled in HR administration and has instituted payroll and benefits packages. Doug has been part of the Gardner team since 2021 and is instrumental in managing the accounting for a cross-section of the portfolio representing Class-A office buildings, a multifamily housing complex in the Daybreak community and the Harry Reid UNLV Research and Technology Park. In his free time, he can be found volunteering at Homeless Services of Utah or enjoying standup comedy.
Cassie began her career in commercial property management — supervising assets ranging from large institutional owned Class-A office, industrial, and retail portfolios, to privately-owned strip-centers and Class-B flex and single properties. Later she aspired to expand her skillset and pursued a graduate certificate in real estate development where she developed deeper skills in the financing and market analysis aspects of real estate and decided to segue into the accounting realm. As a property management accountant at Gardner, Cassie is responsible for the financial accounting and reporting for a group of assets including Class-A offices buildings and retail centers in Utah and Idaho. A native of Austin, Texas, she came to Utah in 2018. When she isn’t working the numbers, she enjoys warm weather activities like paddleboarding, hiking and camping.
Carrie has been an essential part of the Idaho property management account team since 2018. She manages financials for owners of commercial properties of all kinds with retail malls and industrial properties making up much of her portfolio. She also assists with accounting on development projects. Prior to joining Gardner, Carrie spent several years at Colliers International where she became adept at the Yardi platform for property management and later helped adopt the same technology at Gardner. Growing up in the small town of Cascade, ID, she has a love for the outdoors and enjoys camping, boating, wake surfing, paddle boarding, biking and skiing. She also enjoys a good murder mystery novel.
Accounts Payable Clerk
Jennifer has been part of the Idaho office accounting team since 2021. With her degree in the creative arts of textile and design, she has found working in development to be a creative art as well – from concepts, to execution, to architectural achievements, the built environment requires creativity in every phase. She is absorbed in the financial structure of development as well as the banking nuances of property management and is looking forward to being part of Gardner’s expanding Idaho presence. In her free time, you can find her at the gym preparing for the next bodybuilding competition or on a motorcycle ride. Like many Idaho natives, she loves camping with her family, paddleboarding, hiking and skiing.
Executive Assistant
Aimee has over a decade of experience supporting executives in their leadership roles through strong organizational skills, effective communications and a keen attention to detail. Her contributions have consistently elevated the efficiency and effectiveness of executive teams, enabling them to focus on strategic initiatives and achieve their goals. At Gardner, she supports President Brady Southwick and Chief Investment Officer Eli Mills. Prior to joining Gardner in 2023, she excelled in supporting company leaders at Blue Diamond Capital and Vivint Smart Home. Aimee’s strength is her ability to integrate with personnel across the organization including operations and HR to help foster communications and high performing teams. As the conduit to leadership, she can influence positive change throughout the company and promote a supportive work environment. In her career, Aimee has had the opportunity to manage both the Blue Diamond Capital Scholarship Program and the Marc C. and Deborah H. Bingham Foundation. Establishing relationships both domestically and abroad, with charities, organizations, and needy causes, and facilitating scholarships to numerous college students appealed to her management acumen as much as her desire to positively impact lives. Aimee has three sons and is actively engaged in supporting their passions.
Graphic Designer
Corina takes great satisfaction and motivation from seeing beauty in the ordinary, which makes her design skills a sought-after service in every place she has worked. She is a visual communicator who turns reports, stats and site plans into design achievements and easily digestible collateral. By education, Corina learned how to teach design, but she has turned her design fundamentals into a career working in the commercial real estate industry. Prior to joining Gardner in 2022, she worked at CBRE where she led the production of annual reports including design, photography, copy writing, making maps, and data visualization. At Gardner, she takes these skills to the next level in designing everything from brochures and reports to social media posts and website concepts. When she isn’t designing, you can find her globetrotting with her husband and 3 kids.
