JLL acquires leading firm Gilliland Construction Management in San Diego

CHICAGO and SAN DIEGO, Feb. 21, 2022 — Meeting the demand of the firm’s growing construction, development and redevelopment activity in San Diego and Southern California, JLL announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Gilliland Construction Management, a leader in project and construction management services for life sciences, lab, retail, hospitality, industrial, multifamily and office properties.

Founded in 2015 by Kirt Gilliland, a 35-year commercial real estate construction leader, San Diego-based Gilliland Construction Management has eight people located in San Diego, serving clients throughout Southern California. The firm is a recognized leader in providing project management, construction management, tenant coordination and entitlement for new construction, renovations and value-add opportunities across multiple industries.

“With the growing and evolving San Diego commercial real estate construction industry, we were looking for ways to better service our clients and the region,” said Gilliland who will now serve as Senior Vice President of JLL, overseeing the firm's Project and Development Services business in San Diego. “Joining JLL is the best way for us to continue to grow within a culture that fits our team, for our employees to develop their careers, and for us to be able to provide the best services to our clients with the firm’s full-service platform offering multiple services across a wide range of property types.”

Jay Pich, Regional Managing Director of JLL Southwest Project and Development Services, leads the team in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Hawaii, Phoenix and Las Vegas. The region has 72 project managers which is overseeing $3.0 billion in construction projects annually.

“The expansion of JLL’s Project and Development Services in San Diego and throughout the Southwest has been a priority of the firm the past several months as the region’s commercial real estate landscape has continued to evolve through development, redevelopment and expansion of industries including life science, lab, industrial and multifamily, to name a few,” added Peter Belisle, Market Director for JLL’s Southwest Region. “From this point on, our clients will be able to tap a more robust platform of project and development services. We welcome our new colleagues from Gilliland Construction Management.”

JLL Project and Development Services is a leader in the development, design, construction and branding of commercial real estate projects for the world’s most prominent corporations, educational institutions, public jurisdictions, healthcare organizations, industrial facilities, retailers, hotels, sports facilities and real estate owners. Ranked No. 1 Top Development Company by Modern Healthcare, No. 3 in Building Design + Construction’s 2019 Construction Management Giants survey, and No. 2 on Engineering News-Record’s 2020 list of Top 50 Program Management Firms and No. 3 on their 2020 list of Top 100 Construction Management-for-Fee Firms, JLL’s project management team comprises 6,800 project managers across 80 countries and is actively managing $99.4 billion under construction.