Kilroy Realty Loses CFO Jeffrey Kuehling, Hands Finance Back to Its Chief Investment Officer Eliott Trencher
Eliott Trencher returns to a post he held two years ago, concentrating capital allocation and the finance function under one executive while an outside search runs.
August 12, 2026
Kilroy Realty Corporation has parted ways with its finance chief and turned to a familiar hand to fill the seat. The Los Angeles-based landlord said on August 11 that Jeffrey Kuehling is leaving effective the same day, with Chief Investment Officer Eliott Trencher stepping in as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer on an interim basis.
A returning finance chief, with two jobs
Trencher is returning to territory he knows. He joined Kilroy in 2017, took over as Chief Investment Officer in 2020, and served as Chief Financial Officer from 2022 to 2024 before handing the role off. Nothing in the announcement indicates he is stepping back from the investment mandate, which leaves acquisitions, dispositions and development underwriting sitting alongside the finance and treasury functions under a single executive for the duration of the interim period.
Kilroy has retained Russell Reynolds Associates to identify and appoint a permanent successor, and did not attach a timeline to the search.
Getting ahead of the questions
The company paired the announcement with two statements clearly aimed at the questions an abrupt finance exit invites:
- Kuehling’s departure was not the result of any disagreement over the company’s financial policies, including accounting principles and practices, or over any financial statements or disclosures.
- Kilroy reaffirmed the 2026 guidance it issued alongside second-quarter results on July 27.
A soft leasing backdrop
The transition arrives with the portfolio still absorbing weak West Coast office demand. As of June 30, Kilroy’s stabilized portfolio totaled roughly 17.1 million square feet, primarily office and life science space, and was 77.0 percent occupied against 81.5 percent leased. A 608-unit residential holding in San Diego averaged 95.6 percent occupancy for the quarter.
Kilroy operates across the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego and Austin, and is a member of the S&P MidCap 400 with more than seven decades of history developing and managing office, life science and mixed-use assets. It has also built an unusually decorated sustainability record for the sector, including a five-star GRESB rating, a Nareit Leader in the Light award, inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, and carbon neutral operations across the portfolio since 2020.
For a company managing a large office book through a difficult leasing cycle, the identity of the permanent finance chief is the open question the search will answer.
