Our Legacy

Lee Chesnut

CEO

Lee M. Chesnut, a resident of Del Mar, CA, began his commercial real estate career with John Burnham and Company in 1986. Within a few years, he was presented with the opportunity to head the regional management and marketing efforts with Reynolds and Shidler (A Shidler Group entity). These early years of experience helped shape Lee’s perspective on creative approach to real estate challenges and opportunities. With the RTC Meltdown wreaking havoc in commercial real estate in 1990, Lee realized that the financial disaster was likely to create unique opportunities for those who are willing to take risk. It was in this climate that Lee formed Chesnut Properties. Two years later, Lee executed on his first distressed asset purchase, which began a feverish pace of acquiring underperforming/ vacant properties and quickly repositioning them into stabilized profitable investments.

Over the past twenty five years, Mr. Chesnut has successfully acquired, repositioned and/or built numerous properties totaling over 1,250,000 square feet representing complex high performance life-science buildings, large-scale corporate buildings, landmark above Class “A” buildings and industry leading sustainable projects. Today, Chesnut Properties is strategically positioned to bring to various communities its passionate approach to delivering complex and impactful real estate projects - with projects under way that represent over 60 acres of land and entitlements that total over 3,000,000 square feet. The company utilizes multiple relationship and financial structures in order to execute this scale of development including: Private pursuits, Long-Term Ground Leases, Customized Structured Debt strategies, and P3 relationships (Public/Private/Partnerships).

Family-Owned

est. 1990

Our Team

  • Mary Kay Jordan

    Chief Financial Officer

  • Nate Chesnut

    Managing Director

  • Tony Le

    Chief Engineer

Our Story

For over 35 years, Chesnut Properties has specialized in developing, building, and managing high quality commercial environments that prioritize health and sustainability.

As a family-owned and operated development company, we've always believed in putting people first—whether that's the people who work in our buildings, the communities we build in, or the partners we work alongside.

We are not a large corporate developer, and we like it that way. Our size lets us stay closely involved in every detail, and our values drive every decision we make. That means developing efficient, thoughtful buildings that reflect long-term care for people and the planet.

Over the years, we’ve successfully developed and owned more than 1,000,000 square feet of Office, Life Science, and Industrial space.

Recognitions

  • 2009 Leed Certification

    Papago Gateway Center

  • Private “Green” Project for McGraw Hills Best of Phoenix Award, Winner

    Papago Gateway Center

  • ASHRAE Technology Award - Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency Winner

    Papago Gateway Center

  • Well Building Certification - Pre-Certified Gold

    Millenia Smart Park - Think Campus

  • The Best of The Golden Triangle 2003

    Chesnut Properties

  • 2008 Environmental Excellence Awards - The Crescordia Award, Winner

    Papago Gateway Center

  • Sustainable Design Award – 2018

    Millenia Smart Park - Think Campus

 Our Legacy, Our Passion