Pine Tree, LLC promotes two, hires another

Northbrook, Illinois-based, retail-focused commercial real estate development company Pine Tree, LLC, has announced two key promotions and a new hire. Jennifer Costa was promoted from vice president to senior vice president, director of property management; Graham Grochocinski was promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president, brand, creative and omnichannel marketing and Caitlin Dec joined the team as assistant property manager.

In her new role as senior vice president, Costa oversees Pine Tree’s property management department and leads a team tasked with managing operations of the company’s national portfolio of shopping centers. With Pine Tree since 2005, Costa has over 12 years of experience in property operations, expense reconciliations, budgeting and financial management reporting as it relates to power centers, community centers and grocery-anchored shopping centers. She is a resident of Gurnee, Illinois.

“In her 12 years with Pine Tree, Jennifer has shown incredible dedication and leadership directly influencing the success of the company’s property operations,” said Erin Bremen, executive vice president, asset management. “Her recent promotion reflects her consistent ability to take on new challenges and responsibilities while demonstrating a superb attention to detail and a high level of operational standards.”

Grochocinski, who has been with Pine Tree since 2013, developed and leads the company’s property marketing programs designed to drive traffic to its portfolio of shopping centers around the country. He also oversees all of Pine Tree’s corporate marketing, including spearheading the company’s recent rebranding effort. He is a resident of Wheeling, Illinois.

“Graham’s recent promotion is a reflection of his contributions to our corporate and property-level marketing efforts as well as his leadership role internally and in the industry at large,” said Peter Borzak, CEO. “Since joining Pine Tree, he has greatly increased our capabilities while enhancing our company’s brand as an established but innovative industry leader.”

Dec joined Pine Tree’s property management team as assistant property manager where she will help manage operations at some of the company’s national portfolio of shopping centers. Dec was most recently a senior key holder for Reformation in Los Angeles where she coached store associates on sales techniques, analyzed merchandising strategies and ensured customer experience standards. Residing in Chicago, she is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. in fashion business.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Caitlin to a growing Pine Tree team,” said Costa. “She has the dedication, discipline and resourcefulness that we believe makes Pine Tree’s team among the best in the industry.”