Trademark Property Appoints Kevin Kessinger President and CEO

One of the big dogs of North Texas real estate development has added a seasoned veteran with retail prowess to its executive team.

Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Company has appointed Kevin Kessinger as president and COO. Kessinger previously served as a top executive for ShopCore Properties, a subsidiary of New York-based Blackstone.

Kessinger has experience operating large retail and mixed-use platforms for institutional owners, operators and funds, Trademark’s founder and CEO Terry Montesi said.

Expanding Trademark’s footprint, implementing technologies like AI to enhance operations, nurturing the company’s talent pool and advancing its pipeline of mixed-use and multifamily projects will be among Kessinger’s duties.

Trademark was founded in 1992, and its first acquisitions were the Preston Oaks in Dallas, a Central Market-anchored shopping center now owned by Regency Centers, and University Park Village shopping center in Fort Worth, now owned by Simon Property Group.

It has developments in Texas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri and Tennessee.

The firm is involved in a number of high-profile retail projects in Dallas-Fort Worth, including the redevelopment of the Galleria Dallas shopping mall, and Lincoln Square shopping center in Arlington. The company aims to revive these underperforming retail properties by adding apartments, office space and restaurants. For the Arlington project, city officials have agreed to provide a little over $14 million in grants.

Trademark is making a splash in the multifamily game, having waded into developments in the asset class in 2021. It has plans for a 414-unit apartment complex at 3900 Lemmon Avenue in Dallas’ Oak Lawn neighborhood. That development, spanning 437,000 square feet, is set to include a retail component and has a connection to Texas-based grocery H-E-B.

The firm’s portfolio also includes assets in the Houston area, Corpus Christi, Kansas City, Atlanta and Baton Rouge.