Founder & CEO
William D. Gardner
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 thirteen (13) 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 a billion dollars in total development value, most recently including: three (3) industrial buildings totaling over 1.82 million square feet on 140 acres at Savannah River International Trade Park, as well as a 1000-acre development at Georgia International Trade Center (“GITC”) totaling approximately 7.8 million square feet of industrial buildings ranging in size from 150,000 to 1.5 million square feet and including end users such as Lowe’s, Shaw Industries, Pacific Cycle, Serena & Lily, along with many others. Prior to those developments, Mr. Gardner’s experience includes several millions of square feet of other office and industrial properties developed across Florida, Georgia and Alabama for end users including: General Electric on a 330,000 SF aviation manufacturing facility; General Mills on a 1.5 million SF rail-served distribution building; JLA Homes on a 1.3 million SF distribution building; Daimler Mercedes-Benz on a 1 million SF automotive manufacturing and distribution facility; The Department of Veterans Affairs on a 65,000 SF medical office building and an 800,000 SF parking garage with 2,400 spaces; Southeast Toyota Distributors on a 250-acre corporate campus with class A office headquarters, nine (9) assembly and distribution buildings and eight (8) rail lines extended into the property from the Norfolk Southern mainline; 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.
Senior Vice President
Kaycee Gardner
Mrs. Kaycee Gardner joined the Chesterfield team in 2018 and currently serves as a Senior Vice President of Development. Her responsibilities include site selection, predevelopment feasibility, tenant procurement and lease negotiations throughout the Southeast, with a primary focus in the Orlando region.
A graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City, Mrs. Gardner received her Bachelor of Science degree with a minor in Chemistry and a concentration in Biology. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Mrs. Gardner attended Barry University where she received a Master of Science degree in Biomechanics.
Prior to joining Chesterfield, Kaycee worked for both CBRE and JLL as a Senior Vice President for a combined 12 years, having facilitated more than 4 million square feet of commercial office leasing transactions throughout North and Central Florida during her tenure.
Since her arrival at Chesterfield, Kaycee has gained significant experience in the development process as Chesterfield has completed just over 4.6 million SqFt in the last 2 years with another 4.5+ million SqFt currently under construction. Specifically in the Orlando area, she is working on pre-development for approximately 1.6 million SqFt of e-commerce/distribution product and over 300,000 SqFt of corporate class A office.
Even though most of her current projects are in the Industrial sector, her real passion for real estate development is in creating places the transform people. Creating an environment that inspires employees during their time at work and not only makes them more productive but happier. What better to leave behind than creating a place people flock to because the way it makes them feel?
Professional Affiliations / Accreditations:
- Winter Park Chamber of Commerce Trustee
- National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP)
- Commercial Real Estate for Women (CREW)
- Urban Land Institute (ULI)
- Women of Influence of Jacksonville Award 2017
- 40 under 40 Jacksonville Business Journal Award 2017
- Florida Licensed Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Chance Raehn
Chance Raehn is a Principal based out of Chesterfield’s Savannah, Georgia office and is actively managing Chesterfield’s land development and build-to-suit projects. He has over twenty (20) years of experience in master planning, civil engineering and project development of industrial sites and facilities. His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Florida State University. Chance has led the master planning for over 125 million square feet of industrial projects and the civil engineering of over 30 million square feet of manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout the Southeastern United States. Chance currently leads the management of Chesterfield’s national contract with Great Dane Trailers, which includes project management and owner’s representation services for expansions and repairs of their approximately thirty (30) plants and branches located across the United States.
Chance’s experience includes being certified by the State of Georgia Economic Development Agency to lead their site selection and analysis for the location of an approximately 1,000-acre mega site. His experience also includes working for clients such as Target Corporation on four (4) distribution buildings ranging in size from 1 million to 2 million square feet; IKEA on a 750,000 square foot distribution building; Great Dane Trailers on a 450,000 square foot refrigerated trailer manufacturing facility; Firth Rixson (Alcoa) on a 200,000 square foot aerospace manufacturing facility; Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation on multiple manufacturing and paint booth facilities; Mitsubishi Power Systems on a 400,000 square foot turbine manufacturing facility; Daimler Chrysler on a 2 million square foot automobile manufacturing facility; TBC Corporation on a 2 million square foot tire distribution facility; Pier 1 Imports on a 750,000 square foot distribution facility; EFACEC on a 400,000 square foot electrical transformer manufacturing facility; and JLA Homes on a 1.3 million square foot distribution facility.
His most recent experience includes successfully negotiating the purchase agreement and development of the 1,150-acre Exley Tract, now known as the Georgia International Trade Center (“GITC”), one of Savannah’s newest industrial parks that is entitled for up to 7.3 million square feet of development. Chance successfully delivered the first four (4) buildings totaling 2.4 million square feet including 1.5 miles of roadway and utility infrastructure from start-to-finish in only 15 months, ahead of schedule and under budget.
Managing Director
Shipley Hall
As a recognized industry leader across the Sunbelt with exceptional relationships throughout the region, he is responsible for expanding Chesterfield’s presence in Florida. Mr. Hall brings more than two decades of investment, development, asset management, construction management, and design expertise. Prior to joining Chesterfield, he served as the Executive Vice President for Tower Realty Partners, Managing Director for Parkway Property Investments, and Senior Vice President and Managing Director at Cousins Properties. With approximately $3 billion in transactions during his career, Mr. Hall has built a vast network in all areas of commercial real estate. He has a BSBA in Finance from the University of Florida, is a Florida-licensed real estate broker, and a Certified Commercial Investment Manager Designee (CCIM).
Mr. Hall currently serves on the Executive Committee of the University of Florida Real Estate Advisory Board and on the Make-A-Wish Foundation Board of Directors. He has previously been on NAIOP board of directors, a board member of Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission and a board member for the March of Dimes.
