General Manager’s dynamic journey from intern to commercial real estate icon

If variety is the spice of life — or business — Hannah Knutson has found her calling.

In just six years at JLL, she’s progressed from intern to General Manager at one of its premier managed properties in Portland, KOIN Tower, and her career is just getting started. Not bad for a former aspiring orthopedic surgeon who found she thrived on variety rather than being focusing on one specialized skill.

Born and raised 20 miles outside Portland, Hannah grew up planning a career in medicine. But as a student at Oregon State University, she decided that becoming a specialist was just too — specialized. She found a home in finance, with all its varied aspects.

“Switching to finance and business opened a lot of options,” she says. “If I wanted to make a change, I could. I didn’t grow up in a family in real estate, but my parents are unconditionally very supportive, and wanted me to pursue my passion.”

She found JLL after searching for summer internships to boost her post-school career prospects.

“I stumbled across a posting as a property management intern, which seemed to cover all the bases I’d been studying. After researching the business and all its facets, I interviewed for it,” Hannah recalls. “I fell in love with the culture and everyone there. I met so many people from JLL I came back for a second summer.”

After a semester abroad at Aarhus University, Hannah graduated from Oregon State with bachelor’s degrees in finance, management and business administration with a focus on international business, and joined JLL full-time. From there, she rose rapidly from intern to property assistant to assistant general manager at various properties in and around Portland. In 2022, she landed her first general manager position at Watermark and 1500 Plaza.

“Every single manager has been so supportive, not just in my career but personally. They really care about their people. All of my managers pushed me and elevated me to grow in my career so quickly,” she says, citing Executive Vice President David Genrich and Vice President Kagney Parsley and Senior General Manager Thuy Doan. “They have been huge mentors to me and taught me different aspects of my role.”

In 2024, she added another skill — pitchwoman.

“I was part of a team that pitched JLL’s services to KOIN Tower’s owner, and we ended up winning the building in June,” Hannah says. She was quickly put in charge of the 500,000-square-foot, Class A downtown building.

Today, she oversees an Assistant Manager and four engineers, trying to manage her emails while working on budgets, corresponding with tenants on their operations or leasing issues and handling “a lot of construction management and punch lists, and RFPs for various jobs and contracts.

“The thing I like the most is that no two days are the same,” she says. “I love the finance aspect of the job, but when I feel a little burned out, I can meet with tenants to see how we can elevate their experience or focus on the construction side. It definitely does not get boring.”

Current projects are replacing both of KOIN’s chillers, modernizing its specialized truck elevator (one of only two in the United States), and working with leasing as JLL undertakes a major re-leasing program at the building, working with the building’s brokers, overseeing the construction management of spec suites and even conducting tours to prospective tenants.

She also has been active with the company outside her current role, planning events as chapter lead for the Portland office for JLL’s Women’s Business Network, coordinating with the firm’s San Francisco and Seattle offices until stepping down when she took on KOIN.

She also serves as the Vice President of Member Services of her local chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management and is pursuing a certified property manager (CPM) designation. In 2022, she was named one of IREM’s “30 Under 30,” which honors future industry leaders.

Outside of work, the former dancer now enjoys snowboarding, golf and hunting with her boyfriend Kyle and golden retriever Cedar. Her international travels also continue. They returned from Fiji not long ago with their scuba diving certifications and are planning a trip to Hawaii and Japan this year.

Also in the future is a long-term career at JLL.

“I would love to continue growing my career here, maybe becoming a group manager,” Hannah says, adding that she enjoyed the pitch process and would be interested in business development, too. “JLL is such a great company to work for.”