Meet the Team
Jennings Group is an expert in commercial and residential property management and maintenance. We are the number one property management company in the Eugene/Springfield area market for three primary reasons:
We keep a staff of over 75 employees to ensure the needs of our residents and homeowners are met. Our management has an incomparable level of property management experience to support our staff. We manage over 2,500 residential units, so we can help you find the next house or apartment to call home whether you are a young professional, a family, or a student.
Everyone at Jennings group shares a core desire to do great work for our clients and treat each resident as we would like to be treated. This desire guides our decisions and actions when it comes to the way we manage properties, screen tenants, proactively maintain and improve properties, and communicate with owners about trends in the market and the ongoing management of their properties.
Darren Stone, Principal
Active Principal Broker/Realtor ® Sales / Leasing and Commercial RE Management
Contact: (541) 434-2133 or darren@jenningsgroup.com
Darren heads the brokerage division of Jennings Group and continues to expand the level of Real Estate services we offer to our clients. His background in sales and education in Political Science have helped him develop the skills needed to bring multiple parties together in a way that serves the good of everyone involved.
Darren as built an extensive network of professionals and property owners during his years of experience and as a member of the Commercial Investment Division of Lane County and the Local and National Association of Realtors™. Because of his relationships, Darren effectively brokers property transactions, leases commercial spaces, and manages investment real estate.
Sarah Vail, Principal
Broker / Senior Portfolio Manager
Contact: (541) 683-2271 or sarahv@jenningsgroup.com
Sarah knows Jennings Group through-and-through. She started at the front desk in 1995, became Office Manager within a couple of years, spent the ten subsequent years gaining experience in every area of our company’s operations, and eventually moved into property management. She has a breadth of knowledge about Jennings Group so she is kept busy, but she always has time to help residents and homeowners solve any issues they come across.
Sarah earned her broker’s license in 2007 and has taken on the role of the Multi-family Property Manager, a position that uses every aspect of her background. “I love what I do because it’s always changing, different every day. We work in a very family-like environment, and I’m dedicated to the company. Jennings has played a large role in my direction in life and is a big part of who I am today”.
Elizabeth Patterson, Principal
Principal Broker / Operations Manager
Contact: (541) 683-2271 or elizabeth@jenningsgroup.com
Elizabeth provides administrative services within the Jennings Group team. She has worked in the property management and real estate services since earning her Oregon professional real estate license in 1984. Her breadth of experience in property management and business management earned her the 2011 Arts & Business Partnership Award presented by the Arts & Business Alliance of Eugene.
Elizabeth has a strong background in the southern Willamette Valley working with both local and regional property management firms. Her background includes portfolio management of multi-family, federal and state subsidized programs, tax-credit properties, commercial, mixed-use, HOA boards, condo conversion, single-family, and tenant Improvement construction project oversight.
Kent Jennings, Principal Broker
Portfolio Manager / Development & RE Investment Consulting
Contact: (541) 434-2114 or kent@jenningsgroup.com
Kent’s career started as an Apartment Manager while attending the University of Oregon in 1972. One project led to another. In 1978 the company that is now Jennings Group, Inc. was formed. In between then and this 40th Anniversary year Kent has accumulated a fair amount of real estate experience and expertise. At one-point Jennings had offices in Seattle, Portland, Salem and Eugene. This included over 6,000 units under management and over 275 employees. In 2005 sanity struck and all but the Eugene business was sold. The other three companies are in business to this day.
The Jennings Portfolio of properties under management has always included apartment, single family and commercial departments. We have worked extensively institutions such as banks and a public utility. In 1998 Kent completed his first apartment development. Over the following 14 years he serviced as the Primary or Fee Developer for over 425 apartment units including 7 garden and mid-rise apartment communities. Kent has been on the development team and managed the opening of dozens of apartment communities. In addition, he has special expertise in marketing, accounting and business systems.
The pride and joy of Kent’s career is to work alongside of the 70 some employees and 300 plus clients that comprise Jennings Group today. It’s no secret that the new Owners; Darren, Elizabeth and Sarah do a much better job of running the company than Kent ever did. “And I get to show up every day to watch and enjoy. And I play a lot of golf.”
Kent’s current management portfolio includes the new (110-unit, 6 story) 35 Club apartment community now under construction. He also works on special projects for the company and is always looking for the next business opportunity. “Retire from what exactly? This is fun!”
Kurt Schilling
Manager, Jennings Maintenance LLC
Contact: (541) 683-2271 or kurts@jenningsgroup.com
Kurt has been with Jennings Group for 20 years, first as a highly skilled maintenance tech, then as a Department Manager. Today he is in charge of Jennings Maintenance LLC with over 24 staff people. This breaks down into 3 groups; the maintenance & repair team; landscape maintenance team and finally, the new construction & rehab team.
In addition to his considerable trade and supervisory skills; Kurt is a very good businessman who easily grasps the investment side of the property we manage. He understands that the Jennings Maintenance LLC exists because smaller properties cannot afford on-site employees and regular trades vendors are too expensive. We always use a wide variety of outside vendors. Jennings steps in when this is the most timely and cost effective maintenance and repair solution for our clients. Kurt manages Jennings Maintenance for the benefit of our property management clients.
