Janina Ceglarz is retiring after 26 years of managing a package of downtown properties, first for Michael Williams and then on behalf of the University of Victoria, which received millions of dollars worth of buildings, antiques and art when Williams died.
That role and the job of running UVic’s other non-academic real estate properties, such as the Vancouver Island Technology Park, is being assumed by Peter Kuran, who arrived at UVic this month. He most recently served as deputy general manager for Vancouver’s board of parks and recreation.
Retirement is “kind of bittersweet. I’m going to miss everyone,” said Ceglarz, 59.
Ceglarz and her husband, Wes, are moving to the Okanagan to be close to family. She is planning to stay on for a few months to help with the transition.
Williams was a well-known businessman, a leader in restoring downtown heritage buildings, and involved in social issues. Ceglarz, who arrived in Canada from Poland 31 years ago with Wes and their young daughter, was Williams’s first employee when hired in 1986 as property manager.
As the business developed, Williams added what is now Swans Suite Hotel and Brewpub. Shortly before Williams died in 2000, he asked Ceglarz to always have flowers on the building. Masses of blooms are still on Swans — just “the way he wanted to have it,” she said.
In his UVic bequest, then valued at $17 million, Williams stipulated that Ceglarz be kept on for at least 10 years, heading up a new company that amalgamated his business interests. Her job as president and chief executive officer at Heritage Realty Property has seen her oversee 170,000 square feet of downtown residential and commercial properties.
Her leadership “ensured business continued successfully following the passing of UVic benefactor Michael Williams,” the university said in a statement. Since Williams’s death, revenue from those holdings has been “directly supporting academic initiatives in areas about which Williams was passionate.”
Ceglarz said she expects a smooth transition when Kuran takes over.
“I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to step back, which has been difficult since Swans, the downtown properties and everyone involved with the Michael Williams legacy are so important to me. And this seems to be just the right time,” she said.
Kuran will run a restructured group of properties, including Heritage, the 191,000-square-foot Vancouver Island Technology Park on Markham Road, the 40,000-square-foot Marine Technology Park on the Saanich Peninsula and other off-campus holdings.
In February, Dale Gann lost his job as president of the technology park as UVic moved to restructure its non-academic properties. At that time, UVic announced it was creating a new CEO position to oversee all those assets.
“Kuran has a diverse background of commercial real estate and hospitality management expertise, exceptional strategic planning, as well as successful engagement initiatives and partnerships to foster creative solutions with community, corporate and First Nations groups,” UVic said.
Before working for Vancouver’s parks board, he was director of commercial services at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Polytechnic in Calgary. Prior to that, he was director of commercial services for the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
“The portfolio that comprises UVic Properties is in a great position, and we will ensure the holdings continue to be managed consistent with the university’s core mission and, for those that were donated, the wishes of donors who entrusted us with them,” Kuran said.
