California People and Company News, Week of August 14, 2026

Rory Baird has joined Kidder Mathews’ Valuation Advisory Services team as VP based in its downtown Los Angeles office. Baird brings more than a decade of commercial real estate experience, specializing in the valuation of industrial, storage yard, retail, office, medical office, multifamily, and vacant land properties throughout Greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire.

Kidder Mathews also announced that veteran commercial real estate investment broker Jon Busse has joined the firm’s Carlsbad office. With more than four decades of experience, Busse has represented investors, developers, and institutional property owners in investment sales transactions across a broad range of asset types.

Raymond Buddie has joined law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP as a partner in San Francisco. Buddie brings more than 30 years of experience representing clients in complex construction matters and resolving high-stakes construction-related disputes.

RET Ventures has promoted Jameson Hartman, CFA, from Vice President to Industry Principal. In his new role, Jameson works closely with RET’s Strategic Investors, a network of more than 55 leading multifamily and single-family rental owners and operators, including major REITs and private residential owners, to identify emerging technology needs and trends across the industry.

Kilroy Realty Corporation announced today that Jeffrey Kuehling has left the company. In connection with his departure, Eliott Trencher will assume the roles of CFO and treasurer on an interim basis. The company has initiated an executive search effort through Russell Reynolds Associates to identify and appoint a new CFO. Kuehling’s departure is not the result of any disagreements related to the company’s financial policies, including any accounting principles and practices, or related to any financial statements or disclosures.

Granite has been awarded an approximately $31-million Early Works Grading Package by Hydrostor for its Willow Rock Energy Storage Center (WRESC) Project, located north of Rosamond in Kern County. The Willow Rock Energy Storage Center is a planned 500 MW Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) facility in the Mojave Desert, capable of powering more than 400,000 homes for eight hours. Granite’s scope includes construction of early site infrastructure on the 89-acre project.

Fox Point Farms, a 21-acre mixed-use community of 250 homes anchored by a working organic farm in Encinitas, has been honored as Mixed-Use Community of the Year at the recent 2026 Gold Nugget awards ceremony in San Diego. The Gold Nugget awards are presented annually by the California Building Industry Association and Pacific Coast Builders Conference.

Tenant Inc. and TractIQ announced their platform integration, delivering competitive intelligence directly inside Tenant Inc.’s Hummingbird PMS. First announced as a strategic partnership at the Storelocal Innovation Summit in February 2025, the integration is now fully deployed — embedding TractIQ’s market data across Rate Management, Rent Roll Reports, and Management Reports inside Hummingbird.

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