Professional Experience
Associated Office
Cara Dunleavy brings more than 12 years of experience in hospitality and facilities management to her role as Facility Manager at First Midwest Bank. Cara oversees the day-to-day building maintenance of approximately 820,000 square feet, 70 branches and supervises a maintenance team of eight employees. She also serves as an administrator for the bank’s work order system, 360 facility; executes vendor and service provider contracts; oversees janitorial, landscaping and snow removal at all her designated facilities; serves as a liaison to bank leasing tenants; budgets and coordinates capital projects; and assists First Midwest Bank Marketing and Corporate Administration Departments with special projects.
Cara joined CBRE through the acquisition of U.S. Equities Realty in 2014. When she first joined the U.S. Equities Realty First Midwest team, she assisted the Senior Facility Manager with the assets held by First Midwest Bank as a result of mortgage defaults or other equity changes. Previously, Cara served in two other roles within U.S. Equities Realty’s Student Housing. As Facility Manager of Fornelli Hall, Cara was an essential part of establishing all programs and operations when the building opened in Fall 2008. Located in Chicago’s landmark Pittsfield Building, this 450-bed residence provides students from Robert Morris College and Roosevelt University contemporary, state-of-the-art accommodations. Cara supervised the day-to-day building operations and staff; coordinated move in and move out logistics with respective school administration; assisted in budget preparation; administered accounts payable and accounts receivable; executed vendor and service provider contracts; and prepared monthly reports for ownership.
Cara was also the Conference Operations Manager at University Center Chicago. This unique facility is owned by the Educational Advancement Fund, a non-profit corporation formed by Columbia College Chicago, DePaul University and Roosevelt University. While in this position, Cara managed the operations of University Center’s full service conference center and summer housing accommodations. During the summer of 2007, Cara implemented a Hospitality Internship Program in collaboration with the Conference and Housing Services Coordinator.
Prior to joining U.S. Equities Realty, Cara was the Assistant Facility Manager for Saint Xavier University’s 85,000 square foot Shannon Athletic Center. The facility's main arena seats as many as 3,200 people for athletic events and special occasions. She assisted with daily operations, maintenance issues, fitness center/track memberships and customer service; coordinating and facilitating internal and external special events; organizing and directing game management support for athletic events; hiring, training, scheduling and managing student employee staff; controlling the Shannon Center student employee budget; organizing and directing intramural activities; marketing and promoting Shannon Center programs and events; and planning the annual Cougar 5k Run/Walk and Health Fair. In addition, Cara was responsible for teaching the Freshman Seminar course to incoming students.
Prior professional experience includes working for The United States Olympic Committee, where she served as the Sports Administration Intern. Her responsibilities included assisting with the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center procedures and daily operations.
Cara received a Masters of Business Administration from Saint Xavier University and completed her Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science from the University of Iowa.