Sean Casey brings generations of learning and sharing knowledge to engineers
Born into a family of engineers, Sean Casey tagged along on jobs with his dad growing up. Even so, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go into the industry. Yet following the family path and joining a company that has offered multiple opportunities for training and advancement has led him to his current role as a Vice President, Regional Engineering Manager at JLL.
“When I was a kid, my dad was a chief engineer. My great uncles, uncles and brothers were in the business,” he said. “I wasn’t sure about my future, but when my dad said, ‘This is what you’re going to get into,’ I agreed.
After finishing school, he began his career as an apprentice, gaining hands-on experience and passing the required exams to obtain his boiler operator’s license in Chicago. He started his professional career working in office buildings before transitioning to the hotel sector, where he spent the next 10 years as Chief Engineer at a property just off Michigan Avenue. He then returned to the office building sector, working as a Chief Engineer with another major corporate real estate management company.
Sean was then offered an opportunity to join the team at 71 S. Wacker as the Chief Engineer.
Moving to JLL at 71 S. Wacker in 2012, he found a great team and a very different, inclusive management philosophy.
That viewpoint in part reflects the different needs of managing a hotel versus an office building, he explained. Hotels have constant turnover in occupants, and rooms need to be ready to be filled every day — downtime for repairs loses revenue that can never be regained. While rooms are certainly maintained, longer-term projects could be backburnered. With more permanent tenants in place in office properties, ownership can invest more strategically in their facilities for the longer term.
“I was introduced to a great team and firm that had great respect for engineers,” Sean said. “At JLL, engineers are considered part of the greater team, as opposed to being a third-party contractor.”
This value on teamwork is showcased at JLL Property Management’s annual conference for its Engineering Services professionals and Operations and Management teams.
“All of the chief engineers and operations managers get together once a year at Management U!, and share ideas and receive training.
“I’ve been blessed to work in wonderful buildings with JLL, working with great owners and management teams — anything we needed, we received, from safety equipment to tools to major repairs,” he said. “Their focus was on the better way to do things, and how it will benefit us for the long term. I’ve used that in my engineering philosophy since.”
He quickly rose from that Chief Engineer post, supervising a 2o-person team, to becoming Operations Manager at AON Center in Chicago.
“The previous manager was retiring and Matt Amato [General Manager of the 2.7 million-square-foot building] said he thought I’d be a good fit for the operations role,” Sean recalled. “It was definitely a challenge, and I wanted to grow my career.”
A year later, he was promoted to a Regional Engineering Manager.
Today, Sean works with multiple clients in the Chicagoland area, so different priorities pop up daily — from overseeing mechanical assessments and pricing out capital projects for potential clients, identifying a specialty contractor for a specific need, hiring new Chief Engineers and Assistant Chiefs. But most important is keeping the client happy, he said.
“Every building is owned by a different client with a different set of goals — a long-term hold or perhaps buying and selling within a short time,” he observed. “We identify our clients’ needs and goals, and then prioritize our actions based on what we know about them. It could be a focus on maintaining vintage equipment, investing in automation and tech for longer-term holds, cosmetic buildouts or leasing.”
Inspired by his own mentors including JLL’s Bill Schuck and his father, he continues to pass on knowledge, hosting with several other chief engineers an “Engineering 101” training for tenant service coordinators and property administrators who are newer to the industry. Sean serves on the board of the Chief Engineers Association, with a special interest in bringing in industry experts to train JLL’s engineers.
Outside of the office, Sean is known as the go-to guy in the neighborhood when something needs fixing, as he and his wife raise two sons and a daughter. Through JLL, he volunteers for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, where he and colleagues will help pack groceries for people in need, and works with Habitat for Humanity.
