Will Gardner is the founder and CEO of Chesterfield, based in Chesterfield’s headquarters office located in Winter Park, Florida. He has over thirty (30) years of experience in real estate development and construction management of primarily office and industrial facilities. His education includes a Master of Science in Construction Management from Clemson University and Graduate studies in Business and Finance at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Since 2006, Mr. Gardner has led the ground-up development and construction management of over ten (10) million square feet of corporate office, medical office, manufacturing, distribution and e-commerce projects for Fortune 500 companies and other end users across Florida, Georgia and Alabama from site due diligence, acquisition, project finance, and overall project management through permitting, design, and construction.

To date, Chesterfield has developed over thousands of acres involving approximately $500 million in total development value.

William D. Gardner, CEO
William D. Gardner, CEO

Mr. Gardner’s experience includes development projects with companies including General Electric Aviation on a 330,000 square foot aviation manufacturing facility; JLA Homes on a 1.3 million square foot distribution facility; Daimler Mercedes-Benz on a 920,000 square foot automotive manufacturing and distribution facility; General Mills Corporation on a 1.5 million square foot CSX rail-served distribution facility; Department of Veterans Affairs on a 65,000 square foot medical office building and a 2,400-car parking garage totaling approximately 800,000 square feet; Physicians for Better Jacksonville on a 110,000 square foot medical office, imaging and surgery center; A 160,000 square foot corporate office and operations center for Homeside Lending (now “JP Morgan Chase”); A 250-acre corporate campus for Southeast Toyota Distributors with class A office headquarters, nine (9) assembly and distribution buildings, and eight (8) rail tracks extended into the property from the Norfolk Southern mainline; An 80-acre corporate office park with six (6) office buildings ranging from 100,000 to 180,000 square feet, and included a build-to-suit for Lexmark; A 70-acre corporate office park with seven (7) office buildings ranging from 60,000 to 200,000 square feet that included build-to-suits for Bombardier Capital headquarters and Atlantic Mortgage (now “ABN AMRO Bank”); as well as numerous other corporate office and industrial projects.
Will is a member of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Clemson University boards for the schools of real estate development and construction management. He is the co-author of an article published in the American Professional Constructor journal on strategic planning in the construction industry.