Knightsbridge Development Corporation is a multinational development management firm operating in North America, Latin America, the UK and the EU. It specialises in complex projects in urban centres that can range in value up to $1.3 billion, or £750 million. In all these projects, Knightsbridge Development Corporation is a leader in putting sustainability at the heart of its work.
“We are huge proponents of sustainable development, which is the DNA of all of our projects,” Will Smith, CEO of Knightsbridge Development Corporation shares with us.
Relationship-Based Business
It is this ability to balance complex, large scale projects with a sustainable development approach that has led to Knightsbridge Development Corporation being chosen to carry out the largest commercial development project in Canada, The Well, for its clients, RioCan and Allied Properties. At the same time, the development firm is currently working on Canada’s first supertall, mixed-use tower, based on a design from architects Fosters + Partners. But beyond the company’s impressive capabilities to run multiple projects concurrently and sustainably, Knightsbridge is also the first-choice development partner because of the unique relationships it builds with its clients.
“KDC is a relationship-based company versus transaction-based, which means we are looking to build long-term relationships with our clients over many projects,” Smith tells us. “As a result, we view our clients as members of our one-team approach, which aims to foster collaboration between all stakeholders.”
Close to 90% of Knightsbridge’s work is repeat business with clients that have grown to trust the developer. The length of these relationships goes beyond partnership, to the point where clients are practically part of the team.
“We get the clients involved, and this approach has all kinds of benefits for their business beyond the current project,” Smith says.
Knightsbridge will frequently embed a client’s project manager in their own team for the length of work, so that when the project ends its client not only gets the project they commissioned, but a project manager or director who is now skilled and experienced in a larger scale of project format than before.
“They come back much more excited about working for that company, and on future projects they can take a leadership role,” Smith says. “It does mean they may not need us for the next project, which might be smaller or less complex, and we are fine with that.”
People-Based Relationships
The key to strong inter-business relationships is to foster strong interpersonal relationships, and that means Knightsbridge Development Corporation has to invest heavily in the quality of its own people.
“We actively participate in summer student programs with Universities in an attempt to attract great talent early,” Smith says. “Then we invest in them through mentoring circles with the goal of hiring new graduates who we can shape into future leaders, embedding them in our corporate culture.”
Smith holds up Knightsbridge as a shining example of the success that comes with supporting diversity in the workplace. The company is a 50-50 mix of male and female team members, including C-Suite positions, and boasts cultural and lifestyle inclusion.
“We encourage our teams to be part of ‘Lunch and Learn’ presentations and the sharing and exchange of skills,” Smith says. “We are currently rolling out a new stock option plan as well as looking into the potential of the company moving to an employee-owned model.”
Knightsbridge’s investment in talent is not just about bringing in new blood, but also ensuring that there is a steady pipeline of experienced people to create a sustainable succession plan for the company.
“We have engaged external consultants, held management meetings to brainstorm, and had open discussions with the larger team as a whole,” Smith says. “Our goal is to create a legacy not for the past, but for the future of KDC, that will reward those who have and will continue to contribute to our success.”
For Knightsbridge, a well-developed succession plan comes with unique challenges. As the company has built so much of its business on strong interpersonal relationships, Knightsbridge has to find a way to pass on those relationships, as well as the skills and expertise within the company.
“When it comes to our clients, we spend time getting to know and understand them,” Smith says. “In our mind, that is part of a true relationship versus transactional dynamic.”
Unlike developers that work for a fee, staff the project themselves and then draw a line beneath it when they are done, Smith keeps in touch with clients after the project is complete.
“I know a fair bit about them by the end,” Smith says. “We recently had a call with an architectural firm in the US, and before we got down to business, I was asking about their son who was halfway through university. He remembered that I remembered that, and that personal connection to clients and their people comes back on both sides.”
This approach is something Smith wants to be interwoven into the way Knightsbridge does business today, and in the future with their succession strategy.
“The challenge right now is the company needs to have a new face at a presidential level, so the biggest part of the succession plan is actually myself,” Smith admits. “We need to find someone with the same contacts, friends, colleagues and relationships in the industry. That is difficult because often people with those qualities will leave to start their own firms. We are looking to find our next future leader now because we know that we will have to invest time and resources into whoever we bring into the company to groom and mentor them. That means getting them in front of as many people as possible, so even within that succession planning, the idea of relationships comes back. That is our biggest challenge, and we don’t take that lightly.”
Beyond that succession plan, Knightsbridge Development Corporation intends to continue serving its existing markets and clients in line with a sustainable growth model, only taking on projects that align with the company’s values of ‘People, Planet, Projects’, in that order.
“We have managed to create a unique niche for ourselves, as the organisation that has delivered on the largest commercial development in Canada and is currently working on the first supertall mixed-use tower in Canada,” Smith says. “We are currently in the early planning stages of two mixed-use developments. That is all based on the abilities and talents of the team. We are lucky to have those projects to our name for marketing purposes, but if it weren’t for the diversity of our team, it would not be possible. It is the hard work and effort of all the people who work alongside me that make us a success.”
