Skender Announces Five Industry Veteran New Hires to Support Growing Commercial and Residential Building Construction Team

Skender, one of the nation’s top building contractors, today announced the addition of five key new hires – Brian Bezanis, Ricardo Lopez, Ryan Pieper, Don Koehler and Terez Sturrup – to support the exciting growth of the firm’s new commercial and residential building project pipeline. Collectively, the new team members bring to Skender a high-rise construction portfolio that totals more than 1,200 stories and 13,000 units of experience.

\\ Twenty-five-year industry veteran Brian Bezanis joins Skender as Project Executive following leadership roles at Sterling Bay, Smithfield Properties and Pepper Construction. His expertise in real estate development and construction management spans numerous large-scale commercial, residential and mixed-use projects, including the 47-story multi-use Millie at 300 N Michigan, featuring 289 luxury apartments, 280 hotel rooms and high-visibility retail space; the 30-story Class-A multifamily tower The Dylan at 160 N Morgan in Fulton Market; and the 32-story luxury apartment tower Eight O Five (805 N LaSalle) in River North. He has a Construction Engineering degree from Iowa State University.

\\ Thirty-year industry veteran Don Koehler joins Skender as Senior Superintendent. In addition to his previous role as Senior Superintendent at Lendlease Construction, Koehler spent much of his early career at the Gammonley Group. His recent projects include the 22-story Streeterville luxury apartment tower and mixed-use development The Saint Grand (218 E Grand); the 21-story Fulton Market apartment tower One Six Six (166 N Aberdeen); the 12-story Class-A office tower 448 N LaSalle; the 30-story apartment tower Landmark West Loop (1035 W Van Buren); and the 16-building historic redevelopment, plus a new six-story building, at Lathrop Homes.

\\ Ricardo Lopez joins Skender as Senior Superintendent from his prior role as Lead Senior Superintendent at Lendlease Construction in Chicago. Lopez has over 15 years of experience in construction and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His recent projects include the luxury 47- and 37-story residential towers Cirrus (211 N Harbor) and Cascade (455 E Waterside); the 69-story luxury Streeterville residence One Bennett Park (451 E Grand); and the 22-story luxury apartment tower and mixed-use development The Saint Grand.

\\ Ryan Pieper joins Skender as Senior Project Manager from his prior role as Senior Project Manager at Lendlease Construction. Pieper has more than a decade of experience in high-profile, high-rise construction projects in the city of Chicago and holds a Master of Engineering in Structural Engineering and BS in Civil Engineering from Trine University. His recent projects include the 22-story mixed-use apartment tower The Saint Grand; the 47-story Cirrus Condominiums; the 37-story Cascade Lake Shore East Apartments; and the 69-story One Bennett Park luxury residential tower with a mix of condominiums and apartments.

\\ Terez Sturrup joins Skender as Project Manager from her prior role as Project Manager at James McHugh Construction. A seasoned project manager with more than a decade of experience in the construction industry, Sturrup holds a Master of Construction Engineering and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her recent project experience includes the 28-story mixed-use apartment tower The Elizabeth (225 N Elizabeth); the 4-story apartment building at 508 E Pershing; the 12-story transit-oriented apartment tower Westerly (740 N Aberdeen); and the 35-story luxury apartment tower The Sinclair (1201 N LaSalle).

These new additions to the Skender team come at a time when the firm is earning a reputation as one of the premier builders of commercial and residential towers. Skender has constructed three of the last five ground-up office buildings in the city of Chicago: 609 W. Randolph, an innovative boutique office building in West Loop Gate; 345 N. Morgan, a 200,000-square-foot luxury office and retail development in Fulton Market, and 919 W. Fulton, a 409,000-square-foot sustainable office tower in Fulton Market, which marked the first major new office development to start construction in over a year when it broke ground in November 2023.

Additionally, Skender recently completed work on The Leo, a 21-story, 201,000-square-foot mixed-use multifamily rental and retail tower in River North and has a backlog of several commercial and residential new construction projects, as well as office-to-residential conversions.

“It’s an exciting time for Skender,” said Skender Vice President Alex Panici, who heads up the group that manages high-rise construction. “I am delighted to welcome Terez, Don, Ryan, Ricardo and Brian to the Skender team. Their depth and breadth of high-rise construction expertise will help Skender to continue providing our developer clients with dynamic, expanded capabilities and an unrivaled building experience.”

Pictured left to right: Bezanis, Koehler, Lopez, Pieper, Sturrup