In 2007, the Commonwealth team was lean, the operations were local, and a young finance major from the University of Virginia was just beginning to learn the commercial real estate ropes as an intern.
Little did that intern—Will Stettinius—know that time spent shadowing Commonwealth leadership like Mark Claud and Ken Strickler wasn’t just a summer job. It was the quiet beginning of his career arc, which led him around the country before circling back to Richmond as Chief Operating Officer at Commonwealth. Stettinius is the company’s first COO.
As Commonwealth celebrates 30 years in business, Stettinius is working alongside a team of senior leaders to chart the path forward, taking the company to new heights without losing the core values and boutique, white-glove approach that got them where they are today.
A Corporate Contrast
When Stettinius completed his Master of Business Administration degree from UVa in 2017, he packed up his life and moved to Boston to join the corporate world at Fidelity Investments.
Operating within a workforce that swelled to 80,000 employees, Stettinius worked in strategy and consulting roles at Fidelity for seven years. He found the work invigorating, drawn to the collaborative environment where he could tackle complex problems through a strategic lens. Yet over time, Stettinius grew frustrated by the grind of institutional bureaucracy. He realized he was looking for “freshly cut grass.”
“There is so much red tape in large corporations,” remarks Stettinius. “Everyone has to weigh in, and it’s hard to see the impact that you have individually. I wanted the feeling you get when you mow the lawn, turn around and can say to yourself, ‘I just did that.’”
Stettinius decided he wanted to return to a smaller company, one that is still employee-owned and nimble in its operations. Drawing on his past work experiences, he reconnected with Commonwealth President Ken Strickler.
“They were looking for someone with my skillset—a strategic thinker who can bring value to a lot of different problems,” says Stettinius. “It felt like a match.”
With that, Stettinius rejoined Commonwealth in 2024 as Vice President of Strategy & Operations.
Becoming the First Chief Operating Officer
Stettinius spent his first year at Commonwealth re-immersing himself in the business, connecting with a new generation of talent, and exploring the sub-brands that had flourished during his 20-year absence. Stettinius had the unique ability to evaluate Commonwealth through a sophisticated, strategic lens, leveraging his tenure at a global corporation to bridge the gap between the company’s nimble roots and the systems it now required, given its growing scale.
“As I learned the business, some opportunities began to emerge,” Stettinius explained. “Commonwealth had grown to operate in 15 states, with seven sub-brands like Broadleaf Forestry and StreamCo. While successful, everything was essentially operating as independent islands. We didn’t have anyone managing operations and processes from a centralized perspective.”
In 2025, Stettinius was promoted to Chief Operating Officer and began tackling company cohesion and efficiency.
“The role became, how do we break down some of these silos and allow us to share information efficiently and cross-sell our services, without adding a lot of red tape and bureaucracy?” says Stettinius. “We also have a strong, entrepreneurial culture at Commonwealth. It is important that we make sure our employees feel ownership over their work; like they have a voice.”
One of Stettinius’s early operational focuses involved modernizing processes for the lease administration department. Previously, the team relied on highly manual processes to complete complex CAM reconciliations. By rolling out a specialized software solution, Stettinius is hoping to transform a workflow that once took several hours per tenant into a more streamlined process that takes less than half an hour.
Navigating a Legacy Rebrand
While operational fixes can create more tangible efficiency, Stettinius’s most significant strategic undertaking has been Commonwealth’s comprehensive rebrand. The company’s name shifted from ‘Commonwealth Commercial Partners’ to the simplified ‘Commonwealth.’ All sub-brands will also use Commonwealth as their primary identifier.
“It’s been a delicate thing to tackle, especially as someone new to the company,” says Stettinius, who worked closely with company leadership, partners, and the marketing team on the rebranding. “You want to make sure you’re doing right by these brands and the legacy they’ve built over three decades.”
With each area of the business carrying their own deep market equity, the task of rebranding required a surgical touch. Commonwealth partnered with Richmond-based Brand Federation to tackle the project, together taking an approach that honors the past while simultaneously pushing for a more unified future.
The rebrand, which officially launched on April 22, has been more than just a change in letterhead; it is a strategic repositioning. By presenting a singular, powerful front to the market, Commonwealth can finally leverage its full breadth of services. For Commonwealth, the project was the ideal next step in its evolution: standardizing the brand’s presence without losing the nimble, entrepreneurial spirit that made those sub-brands successful in the first place.
The Next 30 Years for Commonwealth
Looking outside the company walls, the future of Commonwealth to Stettinius is defined by strategic and aggressive geographic expansion.
In the past year, the company has moved decisively into new territories. They appointed a new market leader in North Carolina, invested in dedicated business development for asset management in Nashville and are targeting new growth opportunities in Texas. These moves are not merely about filling a map; they represent a calculated effort to establish a presence in untapped regions and stand up new business lines, including an investment sales practice in Nashville and even an internal real estate investing arm.
However, Stettinius is clear that a wider geographic footprint and an expanded service menu must not come at the cost of the company’s internal operations and identity. As Commonwealth evolves into an even more formidable player in the industry, he remains a steward of its “boutique” DNA.
“That growth shouldn’t come with a change in our core values,” Stettinius asserts. “We must remain the same Commonwealth, focused on white-glove service and long-term relationships over transactions and short-term fees.”
Even as the firm launches new ventures and enters competitive markets, Stettinius is committed to ensuring the company never drifts from its roots as a values-driven property management specialist. For him, the goal is to build a much larger Commonwealth that still feels as personal and dedicated as his first day as an intern in 2007.
“Coming back to Commonwealth, this team validated everything for me. We have a culture where our people are the company, and we actually live our values every day. Here, you never hear, ‘That’s not my job.’ People just step up to help you solve the problem. Being around a team that fits my personal values so well makes me certain I’m in the right place.”
