John Kontrabecki, President & CEO, TKG International

John T. Kontrabecki
  President & CEO, TKG International

Advisory Board member John T. Kontrabecki earned his undergraduate, MBA, and Law degrees all from Cornell, and he applied those experiences in becoming a respected leader in the commercial real estate development industry as president and chief executive officer of TKG International.  His latest foray, however, as vineyard owner and founder of Foggy Bridge Winery, might be traced back not to his MBA or JD but rather to a single course in wine tasting at Cornell.

Kontrabecki’s newest brainchild is an urban winery located in San Francisco. Foggy Bridge Winery is positioned to be a landmark destination that will offer an authentic San Francisco wine experience and serve as a gateway to California’s winegrowing regions.  Even though the winery is not scheduled to open until 2010, wine lovers can purchase Foggy Bridge wines via the web at www.foggybridgewinery.com.

Kontrabecki began his career as a real estate attorney with Lord, Bissell and Brook in Chicago, Illinois before establishing TKG International. With his expertise in global real estate investment and development, Kontrabecki spearheaded the company’s international expansion into the Central European marketplace.  Industrial development in Central Europe now compliments development in the United States as the primary focus in the company’s growth strategy.  In Europe, growth has been achieved through speculative and build-to-suit developments with multi-national firms seeking to establish and expand their warehouse operations in Poland.  In the United States, the firm has recently completed a large-scale 200 acre office park development in Livermore, California.  The company is now pursuing commercial condominium developments in California and Poland.  TKG’s expansion into vineyard and winery development as a new line of business began in 2002 when Kontrabecki successfully developed a 100 acre premium wine grape vineyard in the Livermore Valley called Las Positas Ranch that now produces 360 tons of premium wine grapes for sale to Wente Bros., The Wine Group, Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines and Foggy Bridge Winery.

When in San Francisco starting in 2010 consider stopping by Foggy Bridge Winery to sample a Cornellian’s offerings of G.E.O. (Green. Earth. Origin), Classic, Tradewinds and Reserve wines.