CRG Announces Alison Mills as Vice President of Design and Development

Mills will help lead firm’s strategic growth of its residential platform

CHICAGO – CRG, the real estate development and investment arm of Chicago-based Clayco, has hired Alison Mills as vice president of design and development. Mills will oversee the firm’s design and entitlement strategies and overall development activities for CRG’s residential business.

Mills is the seventh strategic hire in the past year to support the planned growth of CRG’s residential business to complete $1 billion in multifamily developments over the next 2 to 3 years.

“Alison is well-respected for her savvy design management skills and will make an excellent addition to our leadership team,” said J.J. Smith, managing partner and residential lead at CRG. “Alison brings extensive experience in all stages of the development process, from acquisitions and underwriting to the public approval process and design management and construction. Her ability to steer design and engineering teams toward solutions that effectively meet cost goals without sacrificing quality or aesthetics will be a great benefit to CRG as we roll out new residential products across the United States.” 

Mills joins CRG from CA Ventures where she was senior director of development in the firm’s multifamily practice and managed a $1.2 billion pipeline of over 2,500 new units and 41,000 square feet of retail space.  Prior to that, she was an architect with Kohn Pedersen Fox in New York City.

“I’m excited to join CRG and leverage my experience and relationships in architecture and urban planning to help create the vibrant, mixed-use residential developments that CRG is known for,” said Mills. “I look forward to collaborating with the team to grow the platform and to help meet CRG’s substantial investment goals while moving some great design forward.” 

Mills holds a master’s degree in city planning with a certificate in real estate development from the University of California, Berkeley and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in architecture from Princeton University. Mills is a member of the Real Estate Finance Forum, Urban Land Institute, and the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Emerging Leaders Program.


About CRG:
CRG is a privately held real estate development firm that has developed more than 8,500 acres of land and delivered over 200 million square feet of commercial, industrial, institutional and multifamily assets exceeding $12 billion in value. CRG leverages a powerful North American platform with local market expertise and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Southern California and Philadelphia. CRG’s philosophy of developing for the future and anticipating the enhanced needs of next generation users led to the creation of its industrial brand, The Cubes, and its multifamily brand, Chapter. For more information, visit CRG’s website at realcrg.com