Jim Grant II spent his summer breaks as a student at East High School, and later at the University of Iowa, doing maintenance work on local properties. Now, at age 34, he is helping to manage properties for one of the largest development and property management companies in the area.

As part of his job as vice president of operations for Knapp Properties Inc., Grant oversees the maintenance and office staff for the company portfolio of 2 million square feet of commercial real estate, 1,300 apartment units and 1,200 association-managed residential units. It’s an ever-changing environment, he says.

“It’s a well-rounded position where you get to deal with a lot of different areas, including construction management, leases, vendors, tenants and even some marketing activity as well,” Grant said.

Grant is in charge of marketing and leasing office spaces, along with creating a marketing plan with local brokers. Knapp Properties has a lot of direct competitors in Des Moines for third-party management business, but thankfully, Grant said, the company has established a good reputation and credibility, which makes it easier to represent before potential clients.

“Competition is pretty tight in this market, and we’re proud that we’ve been able to grow this side of the business despite that,” Grant said. “We’ve been marketing and acquiring a lot of business since I got here, which is an accomplishment I’m very proud of.”

Grant said he credits the company’s ability to increase its market share to the leadership team and the staff he works with.

“We all work together very well,” he said. “We know what needs to be done, and we go out and do it. There’s a great sense of cooperation here, which gives you the feeling that people really enjoy coming to work.”

Grant said the team of Bill Knapp, Bill Knapp II and Gerry Nugent help set the tone that makes Knapp Properties a good place to work, which in turn, attracts “the right people” to work there and enhances customer service. Through his leadership position at the company, Grant has had the opportunity to learn more about the development side of industry, which is an area in which he hopes to gain more experience in the coming years.

“I’ve sat in on a lot of the meetings about new development, and the opportunity to work with and learn from these guys is better than any master’s or doctorate degree you can get,” Grant said. “Just watching them go through the decision-making process is catchy.”

Having the development take place in his stomping ground of Des Moines makes it even more exciting, he said. Wherever development is happening, Knapp Properties is right there, from Jordan Creek Town Center to downtown housing.

“It’s been neat to follow a project like the Galleria shopping center (at Jordan Creek) from the planning stage where you see the plans hanging on the wall and then drive out there to see it all take shape.”