Newly created role designed to enhance customer-centric focus, strengthen the Hiffman brands, and position the company for new growth opportunities

NAI Hiffman, the Midwest’s largest independent commercial real estate company, and Hiffman National, Hiffman’s property management and project services division, today announced the addition of John Heiberger to its leadership team in the role of president – a move that builds on the continued growth momentum of the company locally and across North America.

Heiberger, currently U.S. head of portfolio management at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), a position he will transition out of prior to Dec. 31, 2022, and previously the U.S. head of institutional real estate, will join the Hiffman leadership team in a newly created role as president. In his new role, John will head their corporate accounting and oversee the company operations and people services departments, while advising on strategic financial decisions to strengthen the Hiffman brands, enhancing the company’s customer-centric focus and positioning Hiffman for new growth opportunities in the coming years.

“Attracting a person of John’s caliber is a significant win for Hiffman and a critical part of the ongoing growth we have experienced over the last few years,” said Dave Petersen, NAI Hiffman | Hiffman National, chief executive officer. “With John’s vast experience with strategy and vision development of CRE firms, I have no doubt that he will be able to further heighten our financial strategy and planning to achieve our desired growth both locally and nationally.”

Heiberger has more than 30 years of experience in an array of financial and commercial real estate sectors, including debt placement, risk management, strategy and portfolio management. In one of his most recent roles at CIBC, Heiberger ran and reshaped a transaction-oriented business into a relationship-focused $7 billion asset platform for the US Region of CIBC. As part of the CIBC Bank USA executive leadership team, he helped the bank grow to more than $100 billion in assets with 36 offices in 13 states. Having served on the board of NAIOP Chicago for many years, Heiberger is entrenched in the CRE community and known as an impactful leader in the industry.

“Hiffman has grown nearly 40% in the last two years, and to maintain the high-touch, relational-focused services we are known for requires the expansion of our leadership team locally and nationally,” added Petersen. “With our expansion into the Sun Belt region last year, this is yet another in a series of strategic decisions to strengthen our leadership team and extend the resources, services and top-tier talent we are known for providing our clients.”

Heiberger graduated from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business with a bachelor of science in business management, and from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with an MBA in finance and real estate. In addition to his many professional accolades, John is a current board of directors’ member for NewRoot Learning Institute and Fenwick High School, and an emeritus board member for Aspire and NAIOPChicago. He is a passionate advocate of not-for-profit organizations working with society’s most vulnerable, including children and adults with developmental disabilities and disadvantaged youth.

Reporting to Petersen and working alongside Chief Operating Officer Michael Flynn, Heiberger will join with the existing executive leadership team to support the company’s goals and growth objectives in the coming years.

“I am very eager and proud to join a firm as distinguished as Hiffman, as I have known and worked closely with many of the firm’s team members over the course of my career,” said Heiberger. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for how they run the firm and have long been impressed with the successful business they built. The opportunity to become part of this team and help lead the company through its next chapter is incredibly exciting to me.”

About NAI Hiffman: 

NAI Hiffman is one of the largest independent commercial real estate services firms in the US, with a primary focus on metropolitan Chicago, and part of the NAI Global network. We provide institutional and private leasing, property management, tenant representation, capital markets, project services, research, and marketing services for owners and occupiers of commercial real estate. To meet our clients’ growing needs outside of our exclusive NAI Hiffman territory, we launched Hiffman National, our dedicated property solutions division, which provides property management, project services, and property accounting services across the country. NAI Hiffman | Hiffman National is headquartered in suburban Chicago, with more than 250 employees strategically located throughout North America. For more information, please visit hiffman.com.