Savills Studley Appoints Kelly Givens and Mark O’Donnell to Board of Directors

Savills Studley, the leading commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation, has appointed Kelly Givens and Mark O’Donnell to its Board of Directors. Givens, based in Orange County, Calif., is an executive managing director and member of the firm’s Corporate Services Group, an integrated team focused on assisting organizations with their most significant and complex real estate transactions regardless of geographic location. O’Donnell, executive vice president and co-branch manager of the Houston office, has more than 20 years of experience representing major corporate tenants across the country.

“Kelly and Mark have each made extraordinary contributions to the firm over the years. Each has built highly successful teams that have added significantly to the company’s top and bottom lines; I am thrilled to have them as part of our executive leadership group as Savills Studley continues to grow its services platforms,” said Savills Studley Chairman & CEO Mitchell S. Steir. Savills Studley recently acquired Vertical Integration, a firm focused on occupier services, and KLG Advisors, management consultants that provide strategic location and workplace advisory solutions to large corporations, as well as opened five new offices in the U.S. and Canada,

Kelly Givens, 59, began his career in commercial real estate in 1980. With a background in architecture, design, construction, asset management, project management, development and transaction negotiation, he brings multiple areas of expertise and substantial value to Savills Studley's Corporate Services Group.

Focused on demand-side engineering and economics, Givens helps occupiers of real estate understand the specific performance of available solutions and has been the lead professional and cost engineer on some of the largest commercial real estate transactions in the country. He is an expert in build-to-suit construction and designs projects to a specified unit cost profile with pre-established cost indexes, subsequently tied to contract performance, enabling him to forecast extremely accurate capital cost expenditures well in advance of delivery dates.

Givens received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. His credentials also include registration and license as an Architect, AIA, General Building Contractor and Certified Property Manager (CPM).

Mark O’Donnell, 46, assists major corporate clients in the development and implementation of occupancy strategies and provides advice and expertise in acquisitions, dispositions, financial structuring, incentives negotiation, human resource analysis, operation analysis, and lease negotiation. He has managed more than 25 million square feet of transactions valued in excess of $3 billion.

As co-branch manager of the Houston office, O’Donnell provides strategic direction and leadership and has helped develop one of the most accomplished tenant representation practices in Houston. His clients include 10 of the 200 largest law firms in the nation, three of the country’s largest utilities along with their parent companies, several oil and gas corporations, and many global engineering firms.

O’Donnell was awarded Houston's 2013 "Office Transaction of the Year" at NAIOP's annual office and industrial awards for the 581,000-square-foot Statoil transaction and was subsequently named “Broker of the Year” by NAIOP in 2015. He is consistently recognized as a commercial real estate “Heavy Hitter” by the Houston Business Journal and is often referenced as an expert in his field by many local and national publications. O’Donnell is a member of Savills Studley’s Law Firm Practice Group, which meets frequently to discuss space related issues and solutions for law firms. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in government from University of Texas at Austin.