Movers and Shakers: Kirk G. Boylston Named President of LWR Commercial Realty

LAKEWOOD RANCH – Kirk Boylston has joined Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc. (SMR) as president of LWR Commercial Realty. Boylston’s start date is March 3.

Boylston comes from a varied commercial background, including commercial mixed use, industrial, office and retail development.

Boylston’s ability to set up a network of brokers, landowner and buyer/developer contacts, as well as to locate joint venture and equity partners, was key in his selection to head the commercial division, said SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen. “We need to put ourselves on the national map – business relocation firms, brokerages, etc.,” Jensen said. “Kirk has experience in external marketing programs on a national level. The Sarasota/Manatee area has fallen through the cracks on some big things; we want to remedy that.”

Boylston said that there is a lot of opportunity in Lakewood Ranch, especially with the proper marketing. It is important to showcase what Lakewood Ranch has to offer commercially, he said, while highlighting all the other components that make it attractive.

“The Ranch has everything a company would need to move here,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting the word out.”

Most recently, Boylston was regional director of EJM Development Co. in Las Vegas, NV. He was responsible for all of the company’s operations in the southern Nevada market, including a current portfolio of more than 5,500,000 square feet of leased industrial, office and retail product. He was also responsible for the development, from inception, of the largest master-planned commercial project in Las Vegas – The Arroyo.

Prior to his work in Las Vegas, Boylston held various positions in development, sales, acquisition, leasing representation, and fiscal management for different firms in California. He has numerous affiliations, including Urban Land Institute IOPC Council member, current president of NAIOP Southern Nevada, ICSC member, involvement with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

A graduate of University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in construction management, Boylston grew up on Siesta Key and is looking forward to returning “home” to the Sarasota/Manatee area with wife Christie and his 13-year-old son Morgan.

Boylston replaces Brian Kennelly, who left SMR at the end of September, following a successful seven-year career.

Lakewood Ranch is the 17,500-acre award-winning master-planned community in Sarasota and Manatee counties on the West Coast of Florida. Just minutes from the Gulf Coast beaches and cultural assets in Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch is already home to more than 18,000 residents and features A-rated schools, a hospital, the Sarasota Polo Club, the 75-acre Premier Sports Campus, the Ancient Oak Gun Club, its own Main Street with theaters, shopping and dining, and four million square feet of commercial property. For more information visit www.lakewoodranch.com.