Kimberly Montague didn’t always want to become an architect. It was a University of Michigan pre-med “weeder” course in organic chemistry that made her pursue architecture and design instead of medicine. Now fast-forward to today, and Montague, an avid traveler and athlete, has been named the first female CEO to lead Detroit-based Albert Kahn Associates Inc., the eponymous firm started by “Detroit’s architect” Albert Kahn in 1895. 

She replaces Alan Cobb, who is retiring after nearly 50 years and will retain the honorary title of chairman emeritus and principal. She has previously worked for Planetree Inc. and Herman Miller Inc., among others. She spoke with Crain’s about her new role, diversity and trends in the industry — and her favorite race she has ever run.

• You are the first female CEO at Albert Kahn Associates. What does that mean for you personally as well as the organization?

I’m the 12th president and first woman to be elected to this position from the firm. For me, generally, I would say there are still more men than women in the field of architecture specifically, and design and construction overall. I spent a bulk of my career mentoring and working a lot with diverse students and emerging professionals about the opportunities. I’m proud I’m the first woman CEO and I’m going to say I hope I’m not the last, knowing where the industry is going. When we started school, purely from a gender perspective, it tended to be half male and half female. As you progress through your career, there are fewer and fewer females in those leadership positions. But I will also say, having been at the Mackinac Policy Conference last (month), there were quite a few of the panel discussions and presenters on stage that were women in CEO positions. So this is kind of a turning tide for female leaders in significant positions.

• Women, as well as people of color, are underrepresented in architecture, as well as in plenty of other facets of commercial real estate. How can that be changed?

I go back to the whole aspect of mentoring. We have several organizations we work with here at Albert Kahn to help bridge that gap and perhaps have more students exposed to what it means to be an architect. I will also tell you our diversity within our firm, I think right now we are beating the industry average in terms of people of color and women in positions at our organization. We spend quite a bit of time working with organizations like Boys Hope Girls Hope of Detroit and the ACE Mentor Program of America and others to ensure we are telling the story about what it means to be an architect, an engineer, in project management and the impact this kind of work can have in communities, communities in which we each grew up. We know there is still more work to be done but you can’t do the work if you don’t spend time talking to those who have the potential.  

• What’s the biggest challenge ahead for the company and what are you most looking forward to about the job?

What I’m most looking forward is working with our team here. We have an exceptional culture here at Albert Kahn. We have people that have been here for 30-plus years and people that have been here for less than 30 days, and everyone in between. We maintain the connections with those folks through our network of former Kahn employees and retirees. We like to call them “ex-Kahns.” For me, I think it’s really kind of growing those future leaders within our organization and I’m excited about that.

I think the challenging parts of the job, you know the economy, plays a role on who is doing what work and where. I will say that with one of our major markets, which is health care — people sadly continue to get sick — so hospitals will continue to do projects. We see that as a strength in our strategic plan and we are committed to that health care market. In higher education, there has been a big boom in potential projects from many of the major universities and some of the smaller colleges here, both locally and around the state. Those kids will continue to need to learn, to be taught, so that’s another great market for us.

• What sort of design changes and design trends have you noticed in the last few years, specifically in regards to COVID and health care?

Someone made a comment at the Mackinac Policy Conference about people returning to the office. We are fortunate here at Albert Kahn that we have a lot of people that like to come to the office. Who wouldn’t like to come to the Fisher Building every day? In our industry specifically, there is quite a bit of work that’s done very collaboratively. There is some heads-down focus work that needs to be done on an individual basis, too, but by and large, most of the people come to the office Monday through Thursday. However, that shift for the number of people that are not going back to offices, will continue to influence the commercial real estate industry. We are seeing that with the move of General Motors to the Hudson’s block. That was a very strategic move that they made specifically related to the footprint that they’re going to need for people in office. That’s certainly influencing the kinds of projects.

That said, there are an awful lot of our clients thinking, “With the footprint we do have, what are we going to provide in that space to encourage our employees to come and work here?” It’s not just ping pong tables and Taco Tuesday. Sure, that may have an influence. Everyone loves a good fish taco. But does the culture encourage collaboration, encourage and provide an opportunity for learning and exposure to new ways of working.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention those two little letters we’ve been hearing in every industry, which is AI. How and where and when will that be part of the conversation? It already is. It’s already having an influence on what we do and how we do it. But it still requires a human brain to be able to input the correct information and input the data and the facts and figures for an output that is accurate. It’s the old saying: garbage in, garbage out.

• When you’re not leading this really storied company, what are you doing? What keeps you busy outside the office?

I love to travel. I had the opportunity to travel quite a bit. Traveling for pleasure is probably one of the highlights for me. It does relate back to design and architecture — experiencing new places, meeting new people and learning about different cultures and looking at how those environments are designed and help support the people. It could be a sleepy beach in Hawaii or it could be Amsterdam or Paris, France. They all have their own culture and their own ways about them. Design has an influence on that. I’m also a pretty avid cyclist and runner. I used to do quite a bit of triathlons but those take lots of time to train for, and these days I don’t have quite as much time as I had on my hands. Keeping the shoulders and knees loose with cycling and swimming and running, I spend as much time as I can outdoors, especially in the summertime in Michigan.

• What’s your favorite race you’ve ever participated in?

I’ve done the Freep (Detroit Free Press) half-marathon twice, but I will tell you my favorite half-marathon was one I did at Disney, about six or eight years ago now. It was a nighttime run. My husband and the friends that went with us, they were all touring around Epcot drinking wine and eating fine food and I was running 13.1 miles. When I finished, I called them and said, “Where are you?” They said, “We’re drinking champagne at France, come join us!” I said, “Save me a glass. I’ll be there in an hour.” There were costumes and Disney characters and you’re running at night through Animal Kingdom and you can hear the lions roaring. It was the most unique race I’ve ever run. It was really, really fun.