Bedrock taps Chicago, San Francisco developers for leadership

Billionaire Dan Gilbert's Detroit real estate firm Bedrock LLC is adding three c-suite leaders from developers in Chicago and San Francisco.

The three leaders will be in roles overseeing the day-to-day operations of the nine-year-old business, streamlining its major development projects such as the one at the site of the former J.L. Hudson department store and serving as a liaison between the company and the Detroit and Cleveland, Ohio, communities, Bedrock said Thursday.

Ivy Greaner, chief operating officer of Chicago-based open-air center management firm InvenTrust Properties, will take the same position at Bedrock in charge of administrative and operational functions. She has nearly 30 years of experience, including previously worked as a partner and chief operating officer of Detroit's Ram Realty Service and the team that developed the city's first Whole Foods Market in Midtown. She starts Nov. 16.

John Costello, Bedrock's new chief development officer, comes from San Francisco's FivePoint Holdings where he worked as executive vice president of commercial for the last five years. With 35 years in development, he has built more than 10,000 residential units and 21 million mixed-use, residential and commercial square feet across the United States. At Bedrock, he will streamline development functions across the enterprise, including at the Hudson's site, Book Tower and Bedrock's first industrial projects. He will start Monday.

Bedrock also has created a new position: chief community growth and development officer focused on building connections between the company and the communities in which it operates. Nadia Sesay, executive director of the city of San Francisco's Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, will fill the role starting Dec. 4. The economic development she oversaw in three neighborhoods includes more than 20,000 new housing units, 7,000 of which were designated as affordable; 400 acres of parks; and 10 million square feet of commercial space.

“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,” Bedrock CEO Kofi Bonner said in a statement. “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.”

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble