ABOUT
SHAW PROPERTY HISTORY
Shaw Properties has long been a pioneering builder and developer in the State of California. The firm dates back to the end of World War I when its founder, Donald Francis Shaw, joined the carpenter’s union in Oakland as an apprentice. Mr. Shaw worked as a carpenter during the ’20s on projects throughout the state, including construction of the Ahwanee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. He ultimately settled in Los Angeles, where he worked in both residential and commercial construction, and where his son, Donald Wilder Shaw, was born.
The senior Mr. Shaw became a general contractor and started his own firm in the ’30s. During World War II, Donald F. Shaw served in the Navy’s Construction Battalion (the Sea Bees) in the Pacific, and Donald W. Shaw served on a destroyer escort in the same theater of operation. In 1946, the father and son team re-launched Donald F. Shaw Construction. As pioneers in the field of concrete tilt-up construction, they became specialists in industrial/commercial construction.
In the mid ’60s, Donald W. Shaw formed his own development company, while his father maintained ownership of the construction company. They continued to develop and build throughout California, concentrating the majority of their effort in Southern California. They were among the first developer/builders in the then-new community of Irvine.
In 1977, Shaw Investment Company was formed with Donald W. Shaw and his two daughters, MaryKay Crookall and Joanne Reynolds. Ms. Crookall assumed an active role in the business in 1978, and Ms. Reynolds joined the firm on a full-time basis in 1980. Donald F. Shaw died in 1979, and his construction company was dissolved by its owner-employees a few years later.
At the end of 1994, the two sisters created Shaw Industrial Building Services, the development and consulting division, and Shaw Asset Management, the property management division. Upon the death of Ms. Crook all in 1999, Ms. Reynolds assumed the sole control of the operation of Shaw Properties.
Ms. Reynolds retired from the development arm of the business at the end of 2003, and turned over the day-to-day operation of the property management firm to Jill Marquez. Ms. Reynolds continues to maintain oversight of Shaw Asset Management and Shaw Investment Company. She also regularly consults with the partners of the other operating concerns of Shaw Properties.
In 2003, the company moved in to a new iteration when one of the firm’s development partners, Chuck Crookall, joined with Donald W. Shaw to form Shaw CDK Partners, in order to continue commercial and industrial development through out Southern California. Mr. Shaw passed away in late 2003, leaving Mr. Crookall, who was mentored by Mr. Shaw, to carry on the Shaw family development, management, and consulting legacy. Throughout his tenure at Shaw, Mr. Crookall has been actively involved in real estate consulting through his firm, Newport Equity Advisors.
Mr. Crookall continued development projects and expansion of Shaw Properties by opening an office in Palm Desert, which included a fourth generation of the Shaw family, Andrew Crookall. At the same time, Mr. Crookall formed Desert Acquisition Partners (DAP) under the Shaw umbrella with Quinn Johnson. The Palm Desert office was closed in 2012, and all the staff consolidated in the Newport Beach office. DAP is now known as Distressed Assets Partnership and is part of the Shaw Development Company.
Mr. Johnson, a non-practicing real estate attorney and developer, brought Equity Building Services into Shaw Properties consortium. Out of the success of DAP and its related entities, Shaw Development Company has been formed to provide a platform for Shaw’s continued presence in the Southern California commercial real estate and construction business.
In addition to more than 14 million square feet of building projects, the firm has master-planned large land developments, including the 1,350-acres California Commerce Center in Ontario, CA, and the 445-acre Pacific Commercentre in Lake Forest, CA. The Ontario project was under taken with a consortium of developers including Hillman Properties, Cadillac Fair view, Ltd., and The Lusk Companies. The Lake Forest project included Pac Tel Properties and SDC.
Many of the projects under taken by the various Shaw companies since 1946 have been in partnership with other individuals, both as investors and as co-developers. These partners have included Santa Fe Land and Improvement Company, Wells Fargo Realty Advisors, Mission Land, Bixby Ranch, Newhall Land and Farming, C.J.Segerstrom and Sons, Southern Pacific Land Company, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, Majestic Realty, Western Savings and Loan, Jackbilt Properties, Saddleback Associates, Springcreek Investors, and TRC Environmental Solutions.
Throughout the decades since the end of World War II and the changing climate of real estate construction, development and ownership in Southern California, all of the family members, partners and staff within the Shaw Properties consortium continue to maintain the Shaw hallmark values of excellence and integrity in design, construction and owner/user satisfaction.
TEAM
Charles E. Crookall
Mr. Crookall began his commercial real estate career in the mid 1970’s. He started as a real estate loan officer with Union Bank. In 1974 he joined Penta Pacific Properties a boutique industrial real estate firm with offices in Los Angeles and Orange County. In 1977 he and Kim Shirley founded Crookall, Shirley and Company a Commercial Brokerage, Property Management and Development company with offices in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. In 1986 he and his partner sold the Crookall, Shirley and Company Assets and he joined Shaw Properties where he works to this day.
During the 1980’s and into the early 2000’s Shaw Properties developed numerous commercial business parks throughout Southern California. Funding for these projects came from private capital along with major Banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and City National. Since 2010 Shaw has developed millions of square feet of industrial facilities for the distribution of products from Amazon and other distribution providers. Funding for these projects was arranged by Penwood Real Estate Management headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.
In 2022 Charlie was asked to become a Trustee on the Flying Leathernecks Historical Foundation where has been working closely with the construction team to build the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum in the Great Park in Irvine, CA.
Charlie joined the Marine Corps in 1963. Enrolled in the Marine Corps Air Officer Candidate Program in 1965 and attended the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in 1966 at Quantico, Virginia. Upon graduation he went to Pensacola, Florida where he entered the Naval Flight Training Program and a year and a half later was designated a Naval Aviator and assigned to Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, California as a CH-46 Helicopter Pilot. Had a tour of duty in Vietnam the entire year of 1968. From January 1968 until September, he flew with HMM-262. In September he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 3rd Marine Regiment as its Air Liaison Officer. Upon the end of his initial service contract in 1970 he joined HMM-764 as a Marine Reserve Pilot assigned to MCAS El Toro. He served in the Reserve Forces until 1979 and attained the rank of Major.
Mr. Crookall is widowed with three children and lives in Newport Beach, CA.
Andrew C. Crookall
Andrew represents the fourth generation of the Shaw family to be actively involved in Shaw Properties. He was aggressively working on commercial sales and construction management work in the Palm Desert for 4 years. He built out private medical office and general office space. After that, he worked for Shaw Development for 10 years involved in project management work.
Andrew was also involved in multiple developments throughout Southern California for many industrial and commercial parks. Those business parks ranged between 50,000 sqft. to 1,000,000 sqft.
Since then, he has been back at the home office in Newport Beach working on his development skills, as well as his project management skills.
Andrew attended Chapman University. He currently holds a California Real Estate sales license, as well as being certified in reading architectural plans and construction estimating.