Professional practices based on experience & knowledge

Íslenskar fasteignir ehf. (ÍF) is a professional services provider specialized in performing the role of Owner’s Representative during real estate development project. The ÍF team consists of highly experienced professionals with background in all relevant aspects of property development, including engineering, property investments, construction, finance, law and project management. As Owner’s Representative, ÍF is engaged as manager, coordinator and hands-on operator of the development project where financial interests of ÍF are aligned with the equity stake holders.

ÍF is currently managing projects with construction value of over 35 billion ISK involving large variety of projects including residential apartments, retail facilities, hotels, nursery homes and leasing portfolios. In addition to managing projects on behalf of property owner, ÍF would also invest directly in projects under management. ÍF professional services include a complete list of all aspects required to evaluate, design, construct and exit a successful real-estate development project.

“Property development success depends on organized working practices, cooperation and resourcefulness”

ÍF handles a great variety of work strands at each stage of property development, i.e.:

Business analysis
Feasibility studies and profitability analysis
Development of business plans
Contracting Financing
Project management and relations with architects, planning authorities and construction companies
Construction management
Planning (cost/timescale)
Management of real estate as appropriate
Marketing and sales of real estate

The team

The IF team brings together decades of reliability and experience in developing, financing and managing real estate projects.

Sveinn Björnsson

**Co-owner and CEO**
Sveinn is a civil engineer (MSCE, University of Seattle, 1996) and worked for six years at MKA Inc. in Seattle and for four years at Mannvit in Iceland during 1995-2004. During this time, Sveinn took part in the design and development of many large and complex apartment, commercial and hotel projects as well as the design of sports stadiums and facilities. From 2004 to 2005, Sveinn worked as an Account Manager in Corporate Finance for Landsbanki Islands, focusing on the financing of real estate projects. Sveinn was the CEO of Novator Properties (2006-2011), which invested in and led many large real estate projects in Europe. From 2012 to 2015, Sveinn was the Head of Corporate Banking Business Relations at Arion Bank, where he was responsible for real estate and energy-intensive projects.

Gunnar Thoroddsen

**Co-owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors**
Gunnar is an Attorney at Law with a Masters Degree (LLM) from Duke University (US) and an MBA from Reykjavik University. He has extensive experience as a lawyer and consultant for companies and private investors in Iceland and abroad. From 2004 to 2008, Gunnar was CEO of Landsbanki Luxembourg S.A. and before that was the Managing Director of Homlur Inc., handling management and divestment of appropriated assets for Landsbanki. Gunnar has wide-ranging experience in diverse investment projects, financing and management in IT development, real estate, geothermal energy, corporate finance and law.

Þórir Kjartansson

**Co-owner and Member of the Board of Directors**
Þórir is a civil engineer (University of Iceland) with an MBA from the IESE Business School in Barcelona. Þórir has worked in the tourism and real estate sectors for over a decade, in addition to serving on a number of governmental boards in the health field, including overseeing the development of the new Icelandic national hospital’s main building. Þórir has been the Managing Director of Iceland Invest Ltd. since 2002.

Arnar Þórisson

**Co-owner and Member of the Board of Directors**
Arnar has a business degree from the University of Iceland and an MBA from the IESE Business School in Barcelona. Arnar has worked for over a decade in the tourism sector in Iceland and abroad. Arnar was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Iceland Property Ltd. for 12 years. Arnar has also been the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Kilroy International since 2007 and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Iceland Invest Ltd. since 1999. Previously, Arnar was the Managing Director for the Icelandic Student Service, head of business development at Kilroy, vice-president and Chief Financial Officer of Air Atlanta and a member of the Board of Directors of CAOZ.

Linda Metúsalemsdóttir

**Member of the Board of Directors**
Linda is the chief financial officer of Íslenskar fjárfestingar (e. Icelandic investment) since 2014. Linda has over 20 years of experience in the financial market, especially in financial management and accounting. Linda also has a lot of experience with various financing projects such as leasing and management of funds. For a long time, she worked for Fjárfestingafélag íslands (e. Investment company of Iceland) and Frjálsa lífeyrissjóðinn (e. the free pension fund) managing funds. Linda worked as principal accountant for SP-Fjármögnun (e. SP-Financing) since the company was founded and worked extensively on the development of the company. Linda was also chief financial officer of Thule Investments during the years 2006-2014.

Andri Þór Arinbjörnsson

Andri is a structural engineer by education from Reykjavík University. In the years 2011-2023, Andri worked at Reitir real estate company, most of the time as manager of the property management department. At Reitir, Andri managed, among other things, maintenance of the portfolio and was in charge of all practical works on behalf of the company. Andri was the managing director of J.E Skjanni building contractors in 2023 and 2024, but started working at Íslenskar fasteignir in 2024.

Björn_edited-vol2.JPG — Björn Gunnlaugsson

**Business development and market analysis**
Björn holds a degree in business administration from the University of Iceland, with an M.Sc. degree in real estate development from NMBU in Norway. Björn has extensive experience in marketing and sales management and has worked e.g. at Coca-Cola, Hekla, VÍS and Kringlan. Björn has also been involved in large-scale real estate development projects. At ÍF, Björn specializes in business development and market analysis in real estate projects, as well as their sales and marketing.

Hallgrímur Magnússon

**Project Manager**
Hallgrimur has a B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering Technology from the Technical College of Iceland. He has over 25 years of experience in real estate development, including construction management, oversight, construction site supervision, design and financing. Hallgrimur has taken part in various real estate projects, including road building, apartment development, steam power plants, hospitals, etc

Hjörtur G. Björnsson

**Project Manager**
Hjörtur has a degree in carpentry from the Technical College of Hafnarfjordur. He has over 40 years of experience in construction management, supervision, construction site supervision, design and financing. Hjörtur has taken part in various real estate projects, including commercial real estate, apartment development, schools, sports facilities and steam power plants.

Sverrir Helgi Gunnarsson

**Project Manager**
Sverrir is a civil engineering technician (University College, Vitus Bering, Denmark). He has 30 years experience in project management, budgeting and building inspection. Sverrir has worked on a variety of real estate projects, including office buildings, hotels, commercial sites, apartment houses, schools and industrial sites. He also has extensive experience in remodeling properties and built-in solutions.

María Rakel Magnúsdóttir

María has an M.Sc. degree in Management of Complex Projects from University College London and a B.Sc. degree in industrial engineering from the University of Iceland. Previously, María worked i.a. for Mosfellsbær as an accessibility representative and project manager for a property fund, as a project manager for the International Chamber of Commerce and in production management in furniture production. Maria's main areas of interest are sustainability and ecological construction methods, quality management, increased efficiency and risk management of construction projects.