Bedrock Taps San Francisco, Chicago Development Veterans For Chief Executive Roles, Creates Community Growth And Development Team

October 29, 2020

  • Ivy Greaner becomes architect of the visitor, resident and tenant experience as COO

  • John Costello to streamline development functions as CDO

  • Nadia Sesay to lead new Community Growth and Development team

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October 29, 2020 [DETROIT] – Bedrock is pleased to announce today the addition of three C-Suite leaders to help guide the 9-year-old Detroit-based real estate company into its next decade of visionary development. Ivy Greaner, Chief Operating Officer (COO), is to start Nov. 16., and John Costello, Chief Development Officer (CDO) will take on his new role beginning Monday, Nov. 2. Nadia Sesay will become Bedrock’s first Chief Community Growth and Development Officer starting Dec. 4.

“Ivy, John and Nadia are the perfect additions to the talented team at Bedrock as we continue the important work of curating vibrant spaces and places, while working together to uplift the broader community,” said Kofi Bonner, Bedrock CEO. “Our programs and developments must represent and support the full diversity of Detroit and whenever possible encourage growing wealth and improving health outcomes, and I look forward to working with these leaders to better accomplish these imperative outcomes.”

Greaner has nearly 30 years of experience as a real estate executive and investment leader of retail, commercial and multi-family projects in every region of the United States, from the Midwest, to the South to the West Coast. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President and COO of Chicago-based InvenTrust Properties, a premier retail Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that owns, leases, redevelops, acquires & manages open-air centers totalling 11 million square feet. In one of her prior roles, she was Partner and COO of Ram Realty Services in Detroit and was on the leadership team that developed the city’s first Whole Foods Market in Midtown.

In Greaner’s new position as COO at Bedrock, she will be responsible for the day- to-day administrative and operational functions, ensuring a seamless experience for our visitors, residents, and tenants.

Costello joins Bedrock from FivePoint Holdings (formerly Lennar Urban) where he served as Executive Vice President of Commercial for the last five years. Over the course of his 35-year, bi-coastal career in development, he has built upwards of 10,000 residential units and a total of some 21 million mixed-use, residential and commercial square feet across the United States.

In his role as CDO at Bedrock, Costello is tasked with streamlining overall development functions across the enterprise at a pivotal moment for landmark projects like the Hudson’s Site and Book Tower, and as Bedrock makes its first foray into the industrial sector.

In a brand-new role for Bedrock, as Chief Community Growth and Development Officer, Sesay will be leading a team focused on making meaningful connections between Bedrock’s expertise and the growing communities of Detroit and Cleveland.

Sesay comes to Bedrock from the City of San Francisco’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, where she served as Executive Director. In this role, she was responsible for the economic development of the new Transbay, Mission Bay and Hunters Point Shipyard neighborhoods, which collectively provide over 20,000 new housing units, including approximately 7,000 affordable housing units, 400 acres of parks and open space and 10 million square feet of commercial space.

In addition to the above leadership additions, CEO Kofi Bonner has created a Strategy and Innovation Team comprised of four professionals charged with sourcing and incubating special projects and programs.

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About Bedrock Detroit-based Bedrock is a full-service real estate firm specializing in acquiring, developing, leasing, financing and managing commercial and residential buildings. Since its founding in 2011, Bedrock and its affiliates have invested and committed more than $5.6 billion to acquiring and developing more than 100 properties, including new construction of ground up developments in downtown Detroit and Cleveland totaling more than 18 million square feet.

Bedrock’s real estate portfolio consists of 210 office tenants and 125 retailers and restaurants in Detroit’s technology-centric downtown, the majority of which are new to the market. Key office tenants include Coyote Logistics, IBM, Microsoft, Quicken Loans, LinkedIn, StockX, Universal McCann, UBS, Ally Bank’s national headquarters and Fifth Third Bank’s regional headquarters. Key retail tenants include H&M, Plum Market, The Lip Bar, 6 Salon, Lululemon, Shake Shack and countless others.

Bedrock is currently developing four transformational projects including the Hudson’s Site, Monroe Blocks, Book Tower renovation and One Campus Martius expansion. Bedrock is also undergoing construction of City Modern, a community development in Detroit’s Brush Park neighborhood. Partnering with Detroit-based Shinola, Bedrock developed the world’s first Shinola Hotel on Woodward Avenue, which opened in early 2019. Bedrock is dedicated to creating jobs for Detroiters and investing in job training. Over the last year, the company has invested in both the Randolph & Breithaupt Career and Technical Centers to build a pipeline of talent for Detroit’s growing economy.

Creating unique experiences through real estate is Bedrock’s mission. To make this a reality, Bedrock and its affiliates continuously invest in significant public art installations and placemaking initiatives throughout the city. For more information on Bedrock’s business model, visit the For More Than Profit book. For more information on Bedrock’s projects, visit bedrockdetroit.com or engage with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Click here to view a complete timeline of Bedrock and the Rock Family of Companies’ engagement within the Detroit community.