About Us

When you partner with high quality people, you get high quality results. That’s McDonald Property Group’s philosophy.

With Good People,
Good Projects Will Follow

To most people, real estate is all about the tangible element: brick and mortar, steel and dirt. But after spending decades in this business, we know that it’s the people behind the project that truly matter. Consistent effort, competence, and character are paramount. This approach has enabled MPG and its partners to produce projects that we are proud to have developed, time and again.

Continuing a Tradition of
Excellence in Commercial Development

MPG’s founder, Bruce McDonald, represents over four decades of industrial development experience in Southern California..
1994
The beginning: Golden West
McDonald started his career in 1982 with Golden West Equity Properties, a family-owned company founded by Bruce’s father, Lloyd McDonald, who developed over 10 million square feet of commercial property after a long career in general construction. Spearheaded by McDonald, Golden West sold the company to Pacific Gulf in a public REIT offering transaction in 1994.
1995
Master Development Corporation
In 1995, McDonald co-founded Master Development Corporation, specializing in the development of industrial parks in key Southern California markets. As President of Master Development Corporation, McDonald led the development of over eight million square feet of industrial space by 2010, including major projects in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Chino, Riverside, Corona, San Diego County and Huntington Beach. All developments were capitalized with institutional partner joint venture structures.
2010
DEXUS
Master Development Corporation merged with DEXUS (ASX: DXS) in 2010, and over the next three years Bruce served as managing director and head of US Investments for DEXUS Property Group, overseeing all US REIT industrial operations. A2013 sale of the DEXUS US portfolio to Blackstone and Heitmann facilitated McDonald’s return to developing industrial properties in Southern California.
2015
McDonald Property Group (MPG)
McDonald Property Group commenced in 2015 and on behalf of institutional investors has completed over 6.5M SF of new development to date located in the Inland Empire and San Diego.
2023
Carrying on the Legacy
All told, MPG is part of a third-generation legacy in development and construction dating back to the early 20th century, when Angus McDonald founded and presided over National Construction Company and completed many notable East Coast projects, including the landmarks such as Arlington Memorial Bridge in Arlington, VA and Atlanta City Hall.

We Focus on What Matters Most

There are many characteristics and competencies that contribute to successful development projects. At
McDonald Property Group, we emphasize excelling at the fundamentals. The key tenets that define our
organization include:

  • Integrity
  • Reliability
  • Budget control
  • Sound market knowledge
  • Longstanding broker relationships in each market
  • Attention to all design and construction details
  • A pragmatic approach to problem solving.
home complex image

Hands-On Operations & Strong
Partnerships Produce the
Best Results

Delivering space on time, on budget and with unyielding quality standards requires an experienced developer that is actively involved at every step. McDonald Property Group is as hands-on as a developer can be, and we have learned over the years that this is the only way to operate.

McDonald Property Group is committed to forging relationships with like-minded people and emphasizing strong communications. This can make all the difference when addressing the challenges that inevitably arise during a development project. Experience, focus, and strong teamwork lead to consistently excellent results.

home complex image

Meet the McDonald Property Group Leadership Team

Our company leaders come from a variety of backgrounds, but we’re united by a passion for delivering consistently superior results for our development partners.
Karen Hickey
Chief Operating Officer

Karen Hickey provides senior operations management, leasing and asset management for McDonald Property Group, having worked with Bruce McDonald since 1999.

She has a background of over 30 years in real estate and has negotiated and closed more than ten million SF of leases and sales transactions during her career. Karen currently manages approximately five million SF of industrial warehouse projects through McDonald Property Group as well as president of Thoroughbred Properties, Inc., an affiliate property management company of McDonald Property Group.

Karen was previously Vice President of Asset Management at DEXUS (an Australian based real estate holding organization), responsible for 8 million square feet of industrial warehouse projects in DEXUS’ West Coast Portfolio and located throughout the western United States, managing teams of third-party property managers, brokers and construction managers, successfully stabilizing the assets in preparation for a large portfolio sale. Prior to DEXUS, Karen was with Master Development Corporation (“MDC”) where during her tenure with MDC, she managed leasing and property management functions for approximately 3 million SF of industrial assets under management. Prior to MDC, she worked with LBA Realty.

Karen holds a California Real Estate License, Certified Property Management (CPM®) designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management. 

Connect with Karen
John Pierce
Senior Vice President

John is a commercial real estate development veteran with a diverse resume of large-scale, high-profile projects in California and Nevada for institutional class firms such as Prologis, The Irvine Company, The Trammell Crow Company, and Catellus Development Corporation.

A wide breadth of ground-up project development management experience including big-box industrial, large scale multi-family, retail, hospitality (hotels) and an extraordinary 5-star plus seaside resort called The Resort at Pelican Hill, Newport Coast.

Skill sets include due diligence, project underwriting, site selection, acquisition, site planning, execution strategy, environmental remediation, design consultant selection/coordination, multiple jurisdictional entitlement approvals, bioremediation, budgeting, scheduling, capital partner liaison, development agreement compliance, financial management, construction management, marketing support and disposition.

For MPG, John has been instrumental in the development of an 816K SF BTS building for Project Cougar (Amazon) and related offsite infrastructure in Beaumont and is actively involved with the development of a 1.8M SF BTS building for Project Legs (United Legwear). Currently, John is active with planning a 500K SF speculative project in Beaumont as well as the 4.2M SF, 9 building master planned park called The HUB @ ONT. 

John graduated from the California State University at Long Beach with an Industrial Engineering Degree with an option in Construction Management and a MBA from Pepperdine University. Additionally, John has a Development Management Certificate from the University of California at Irvine.  

Connect with John
Donna Shin
Vice President, Development

Donna provides development and construction management for McDonald Property Group and is responsible for overseeing a wide range of different development and construction projects from beginning to end including contract administration, construction status reports for tenants and capital partners, and project closeout for each project. 

Before joining MPG, Donna worked as a Project Manager for DHL Express.

Donna received her Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies from California State University, Northridge and a Certificate of Construction Management from UCLA.

Connect with Donna
Kyle Ficke
Vice President, Development

Before joining MPG, Kyle served as the VP of Preconstruction at Duke Realty in Southern California. While at Duke, he led the preconstruction for 15 industrial projects totaling 3.7 million SF as well as the management of 5 ground-up construction projects totaling 2.5 million square feet. Prior to Duke Realty, Kyle served in the United States Air Force for seven years as a Civil Engineer Officer. 

Kyle graduated from the University of Southern California in 2010 with Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a LEED AP Building Design + Construction accreditation. 

Connect with Kyle
Stella Kallala
Controller

Stella is responsible for overseeing all accounting for property management, construction, and corporate financial reporting.

Before joining MPG, Stella was the Accounting Manager for a prominent property management company and brings her wealth of expertise and knowledge in the field of accounting.  

Stella received her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from California State University, Fullerton.

Connect with Stella
Elizabeth Draese
Jr. Accountant

Liz assists in the day-to-day accounting operations for property management at MPG. Some of her responsibilities include posting journal entries, recording accounts payable and account receivables transactions, and preparing financial reports. When she is not at her desk, you can find her enjoying a walk exploring Laguna Beach.

Before joining MPG, Liz worked as a client relationship consultant for U.S. Bank where she assisted clients with transactions, initiated the client onboarding process, and monitored the cash flow for the branch.

Liz received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Irvine.

Connect with Liz
Max McDonald
Development Associate

Prior to joining MPG, Max worked as an appraiser at CBRE, specializing in valuing industrial warehouses, distribution centers and cold storage and food processing facilities. In particular, he managed and contributed to quarterly portfolio valuations for some of North America’s largest REITs with total valuations often exceeding $1B. After spending seven years at CBRE, Max worked at Ernst & Young as a real estate specialist and consultant supporting the audit team by analyzing and reviewing commercial real estate appraisals and institute owner valuations.

Max received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University.

Connect with Max
Bruce McDonald
President and CEO

Bruce is president and CEO of McDonald Property Group, a privately owned regional development firm. During his 35-year career he has focused on industrial developments throughout Southern California, with extensive experience in forming institutional joint ventures and delivering full service development activities.

His background includes the development of 12 million square feet of commercial space that is valued in excess of $1 billion. He has extensive experience in negotiating major leases and build-to-suit transactions and has strong real estate management experience.

Bruce was the President of Master Development Corporation (MDC), a regional commercial development firm he co-founded in 1995 and continuously operated through 2010. He was responsible for overseeing joint venture equity, debt financing, and development and construction activity while at MDC.

From 2010 to 2013, Bruce was managing director and head of US Investments for DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS). He oversaw all US REIT operations in this capacity, including development, financial reporting, and asset and property management activities. He headed up the $1.5 billion sale of the entire US REIT for DEXUS, including a $770 million portfolio sale to Blackstone and a $560 million disposition of properties and REIT shares to Heitman.

Bruce is also the managing member and partner of Thoroughbred Properties, Inc., an active industrial property management company, and the Summit House Restaurant, a fine dining restaurant located in Fullerton, California, which he co-founded in 1991.

Bruce graduated from Stanford University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science. He holds both a current California General Contractor B-1 License and a Real Estate Broker License and is a LEED Green Associate.

Connect with Bruce

Contact Us

Contact MPG today for more information about partnership or contracting opportunities.