AUSTIN, Texas (September 8, 2010) – Hillwood has purchased the 468-acre Rocky Creek Ranch residential community in southwest Austin from LegacyTexas Bank. The community already has 151 completed lots and can accommodate another 241 lots.
“Purchasing Rocky Creek Ranch is a terrific opportunity for Hillwood to provide great value for homeowners in one of the best areas of Austin to live and in one of the state’s top school districts,” said Brian Carlock, senior vice president of Hillwood Residential.
Rocky Creek Ranch will open in the first quarter of 2011, when the new entry is scheduled to be completed and the model homes will be available to tour.
Carter Breed and Colin Armstrong of CB Richard Ellis represented LegacyTexas Bank in the transaction.
Homes at Rocky Creek Ranch will be built by Highland Homes (http://www.highlandhomes.com/Community-RockyCreek.html) and Drees Homes (http://www.dreeshomes.com/) and will be offered starting in the high $200’s. Comparable new homes in nearby communities typically start at $360,000.
Rocky Creek Ranch also will feature an amenity center with a resort pool, tot pool and playground, as well as 300 acres of open space with extensive trails. The community is adjacent to the 4,700-acre Shield Ranch Nature Conservancy.
Located on the south side of Hamilton Pool Rd. (FM 3238) approximately five miles south of Texas Highway 71 and just west of Crumley Ranch Rd., Rocky Creek Ranch lies within the Travis Independent School District, which is rated as exemplary, the highest rating by the state of Texas. All three schools that Rocky Creek Ranch’s children will attend (Bee Cave Elementary School, Lake Travis Middle School and Lake Travis High School) also have each earned the exemplary rating.
In addition to the purchase of Rocky Creek Ranch, Hillwood’s residential group has completed a variety of deals in 2010. Earlier this year Hillwood sold five residential properties in the Las Vegas, Nevada market to a joint venture between New Jersey-based Ridgewood Real Estate Partners and New York-based Angelo, Gordon & Co. In May Hillwood purchased a $38 million performing loan from a national residential lender for five partially developed master-planned communities and two golf courses in Georgia and Texas.
“This year Hillwood has been able to create great opportunities across the country that are different from the core development deals that we have concentrated on in the past,” said Fred Balda, president of Hillwood Residential.
Since 1989 Hillwood has developed residential communities with innovative features and top recreation amenities. The company has delivered more than 19,000 single-family lots in more than 30 cities, primarily in North Texas, over the past decade.
Hillwood (www.hillwood.com), a Perot company, is one of the country’s leading residential and commercial real estate developers and investors. The company is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport; the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas; and the 2,000-acre AllianceCalifornia development near Los Angeles.
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Intermodal container volume for North American railroads reached its highest level in nearly three years in the week ending July 3 as overall intermodal loads soared 36.6 percent over the holiday-shortened week a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Weekly carload volume also grew 18.8 percent in the 26th week of the year, an expansion that was distorted by the comparison to a week in 2009 that included the Fourth of July holiday.
On a week-to-week sequential basis, carload volume actually slipped slightly from the period ending June 26, extending a relatively flat performance for North American railroads over the last two months.
But intermodal container volume, which was up 39.8 percent over last year, also grew 5.4 percent from the week before, a sign of the growing push by retailers to get goods to markets in advance of the peak shipping and sales season.
The 197,134 intermodal containers hauled during the week marked the highest total the railroads have reported since September 2007 and the sixth-largest total the AAR has recorded.
The AAR said the intermodal volume in the most recent week was up 19.1 percent from the same week in 2008, which also included the July 4 holiday.
Carload traffic expanded 7.8 percent in the first half of 2010 over the same period a year ago, while intermodal volume -- including trailers and containers -- was up 12.9 percent.
FORT WORTH, Texas (July 15, 2010) – Through the first six months of 2010, Hillwood leased 2.6 million square feet at its AllianceTexas development. That’s the highest lease total for the first half of a year in the development’s 21-year history, exceeding the previous high of 2.1 million square feet leased in the first six months of 2007. In the first half of last year, the company leased 1.9 million square feet at AllianceTexas.
Primarily due to the new leasing activity, close to 500 jobs have been added at AllianceTexas in the first half of the year. Another 1,300 jobs have been retained through renewals that were completed in the first six months of 2010.
Of the 2.6 million square feet leased so far in 2010, 1 million square feet are new deals and 1.6 million square feet are renewals.
“Equally as impressive as the amount of space that was leased in the first six months of 2010 is the diversity of what was leased,” said Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Properties. “Our bread and butter has always been our industrial portfolio, but close to 200,000 square feet of office space has been leased this year and several new retailers either completed leases or held grand openings at Alliance Town Center in the first half of 2010. Our Monterra Village apartment home community, which just opened in 2008, also is now 96% leased.”
Highlighting the leasing activity through the first six months of 2010 at AllianceTexas was LG Electronics leasing 165,402 square feet and adding 65 new jobs with the relocation of its cell phone repair unit from Alabama to AllianceTexas. Exel Logistics also expanded the North American Distribution Center that it operates for LEGO from the 402,500 Gateway 62 building to 596,000 square feet in the nearby Gateway 60 building. Texas Instruments, Lockheed, Ryder and Tarrant County College renewed leases at AllianceTexas.
At Alliance Town Center, leases were completed with AAA, Jos. A. Bank, Texas Health Resources and Zoe’s Kitchen, while Rooms To Go, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, and Tutti Frutti opened during the first half of 2010.
In addition to the record leasing activity, construction also was booming at AllianceTexas through the first six months of 2010. Health Care Service Corp., the parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, recently completed its 250,000 square-foot data center. Kroger began construction on its 123,000 Marketplace Concept store at Alliance Town Center. In addition construction continued on the 750,000 square-foot Deloitte University training and leadership center at Circle T Ranch, as well as the 200,000 square-foot United Markets in the Alliance Global Logistics Hub. Texas Health Resources is scheduled to begin construction later this year on its new hospital campus on the 40 acres that it bought from Hillwood last year at Golden Triangle and Interstate 35W.
The 17,000-acre AllianceTexas development includes the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, the Monterra Village apartment home community, Alliance Town Center, the corporate campuses and golf courses of Circle T Ranch, and the Heritage and Saratoga residential communities. More than 50 companies at AllianceTexas are ranked on the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private Firms.
Hillwood, (www.hillwood.com) a Perot company, is one of the top commercial and residential real estate developers and investors in the country. The company's developments currently house facilities for 65 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. In addition to AllianceTexas, Hillwood is best known for its development of AllianceCalifornia near Los Angeles and the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas.
HILLWOOD ACQUIRES 602,500 SQUARE-FOOT INDUSTRIAL BUILDING AT KEY DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN PENNSYVLANIA
Real Estate Developer Eyes Growth in Pennsylvania through New Acquisition
CARLISLE, PA (June 22, 2010) — Hillwood Investment Properties announced today that it has acquired a 602,500 square-foot industrial building at Key Distribution Center in Carlisle, Pa. Hillwood currently owns a number of commercial properties throughout Pennsylvania. This acquisition will further solidify its presence in the market and contribute to the company’s growth in the area.
“With the challenges of the current economy, Hillwood is focused on identifying the right investment and growth opportunities,” said Gary Frederick, Senior Vice President with Hillwood Investment Properties. “We are pleased to acquire a state-of-the-art distribution facility that will expand our presence and commercial activities in central Pennsylvania. The building is available for immediate occupancy and we will be aggressively marketing it to prospective tenants.”
The Class A industrial property is located at 1700 Ritner Highway, also known as U.S. Highway 11, in Carlisle. Constructed in 2007, the facility resides on a 46.3-acre site conveniently located between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-81, which are major distribution routes through Pennsylvania serving a number of large population centers in the northeastern United States. Approximately 100 million consumers reside within an eight-hour drive of Key Distribution Center in Carlisle.
Hillwood acquired the property from a joint venture between Higgins Development Partners and Pritzker Realty Group, both based in Chicago, Ill. Michael Bartolacci, Gerald Bower, and Jerry Moore of The Garibaldi Group helped negotiate the transaction.
Despite tough economic conditions, Hillwood continues to seek strategic acquisition opportunities across the nation.
“This purchase reflects Hillwood’s commitment to making strategic decisions that not only make good business sense, but good sense for our local communities.” Frederick added. “Our latest investment in Pennsylvania represents the type of acquisitions and growth on which Hillwood will continue to focus.”
About Hillwood
Hillwood, a Perot company, is ranked as one of the top commercial real estate investors and developers in the country and the top residential developer in Dallas-Fort Worth. The company's developments currently house facilities for 65 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. In addition to AllianceCalifornia, Hillwood is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport, and the $420-million American Airlines Center and the Victory district near downtown Dallas. For additional information about the company, please visit www.hillwood.com.
The task of bringing long-awaited jobs to Cecil Commerce Center officially fell on Dallas-based Hillwood when the Jacksonville City Council voted Tuesday to make Hillwood the center’s master developer.
The 16-0 vote capped a year of negotiations that started last summer when the city tapped Hillwood as the top-ranked applicant for the role of master developer.
Despite opposition that came mainly from businesses doing industrial development in Jacksonville, council members have said the commerce center needs a master developer and Hillwood has a track record of success.
“We’re looking forward to them getting busy out there,” Councilman Ronnie Fussell said Tuesday night.
The master developer contract will last up to 25 years and cover as many as 2,800 acres. As Hillwood attracts businesses, the company will purchase tracts of land from the city for construction of distribution centers and warehouses.
Hillwood will call its project Alliance Florida, the same “premier brand” the company affixed to its Alliance Texas and Alliance California mega-developments. Alliance California is at a former Air Force base in San Bernardino.
Opponents of the contract argued the negotiations between Hillwood and the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission resulted in the city agreeing to sell land on the cheap.
Though some council members said the price would probably be higher if the city were just selling land in a straight land deal, they said the price is part of a much larger agreement that requires Hillwood to develop the center or lose its right to the contract.
Mayor John Peyton has supported making Hillwood the master developer, saying the city cannot afford to maintain the “status quo” at the commerce center.
The city and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority took ownership of the commerce center in 1999 from the Navy after the federal government closed the military base. Hillwood will be the master developer of city-owned land at the center. The aviation authority’s land is not covered by the contract.
After winning the hard-fought battle to be master developer of Cecil Commerce Center, Hillwood faces a tall order in translating that political success to where it counts on the ground — construction of industrial buildings.
Hillwood, a Dallas-based company that is among nation’s largest industrial developers, will be in charge of bringing businesses to land where the city attracted just two companies in the past 11 years.
“We’ve got to deliver on our promises now,” Preston Herold, vice president of Hillwood Investment Properties, said after City Council approved the master development agreement Tuesday night.
Herold said Hillwood has talked with a couple of businesses about locating at Cecil Commerce Center. He said Hillwood wanted to get the master development approved before moving ahead with those discussions.
“That will be job number one — getting back to those folks,” he said.
Herold will move to Jacksonville to lead Hillwood’s marketing of the commerce center. He said Hillwood will set up its office in a former Navy building at the commerce center. The city and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority obtained thousands of acres of land from the federal government in 1999 after the Navy base closed.
One change that will take effect immediately when Hillwood takes over as master developer is real estate brokers will be able to earn fees when their clients decide to locate at the commerce center. The city hasn’t paid broker fees, but brokers will have a financial incentive to have their clients consider Cecil when Hillwood is on board.
The master development agreement with Hillwood can run for up to 25 years, but it establishes a series of benchmarks for development that Hillwood must meet along the way or else it will lose the contract. Those requirements are based on the square footage of construction.
Within three years, Hillwood must construct a 400,000 square foot building, regardless of whether Hillwood has tenants for the building or not.
In 10 years, it must have built 2 million square feet, and by the end of 20 years, the total tally must be at least 7 million square feet.
Since 1999, the city has struck two deals at the commerce center by selling land for the 1 million square foot Bridgestone Americas Tire Operation center and the 235,000 square foot Saft high-tech battery manufacturing plant.
City Councilman Daniel Davis, whose Westside district includes the commerce center, said he isn’t expecting Hillwood to come roaring out of the gate.
“We all know what kind of economic environment we’re in,” he said.
But he said he’s confident that Hillwood’s connections with industrial businesses will result in tenants and jobs coming as they building are built.
“I’m measuring success as consistent takedown of lots and consistent new job creation at Cecil,” he said.
The City Council voted 16-0 Tuesday to make Hillwood the center’s master developer. The unanimous support capped a year of negotiations that started last summer when the city tapped Hillwood as the top-ranked applicant for the role of master developer.
The master developer contract will cover as many as 2,800 acres. As Hillwood attracts businesses, the company will purchase tracts of land from the city for construction of distribution centers and warehouses.
Hillwood will be the master developer of city-owned land at the center. The Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s land is not covered by the contract.
ROANOKE, TX-LEGO Systems Inc. has expanded its North American distribution center by nearly 200,000 square feet, moving into 596,000 square feet at the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, which is part the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas development.
The Denmark-based company, which provides toys and teaching materials for children, currently occupies the 402,500 square-foot Alliance Gateway 62 building at 400 Patriot Pkwy. LEGO first opened its Alliance distribution center in 2006. The center is managed by Exel Inc., a third-party logistics company that occupies about 2.5 million square feet at Alliance.
“LEGO only has one distribution facility in North America, and their business had grown exponentially so they ran out of space,” says Tony Creme, who represented Hillwood internally on the deal. The tenant was represented by Dan Cook of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas.
Creme tells GlobeSt. that LEGO is a textbook example of Hillwood’s flexibility. “We have the ability to tear up a lease mid-term and move a tenant into another space,” he points out, adding that LEGO/Excel had two years left on the original lease.
LEGO’s new distribution space is in the 756,000-square-foot Alliance Gateway 60 building located at 300 Freedom Dr. The company, which will occupy 79% of the building, has the opportunity to expand into the remaining space as it grows.
The building, which had an asking rate of $3.25 per square foot, triple net, had been vacant for a year. It was previously occupied by Ryder Logistics and Phillips Electronics and represented Hillwood’s largest vacancy in the Alliance project.
LEGO’s existing space will be returned to Hillwood’s vacant inventory, but Creme says it’s a great building to have back since it offers rail service and all the “bells and whistles” including foreign trade zone designation.
Originally, Alliance Gateway 62 did not have foreign trade zone designation, and Hillwood worked with the city and state to obtain it for LEGO. “The new building had to have a foreign trade zone, and we were able to get a modification for it like we did for the previous building,” Creme explains. “This is a great public-private partnership that made this deal work. The city has a pro-business attitude and wanted to make sure that the expansion would happen.”
As part of the new lease, Hillwood made some improvements to the Alliance Gateway 60 building. “We repainted the exterior and refurbished the office area so their new home looks very similar to their old home,” Creme says.
LEGO joins a list of companies including General Mills, Motorola, ATC Logistics, SC Johnson & Sons, LG Electronics, and Bell Helicopter that have expanded at Alliance.
LEGO EXPANDS NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION CENTER AT ALLIANCE GLOBAL LOGISTICS HUB
Deal Shows Development’s Ability To Accommodate Customer Expansions
FORT WORTH, Texas (May 24, 2010) – LEGO Systems Inc. has expanded its North American Distribution Center at the Alliance Global Logistics Hub by close to 200,000 square feet, moving into 596,000 square feet in the Alliance Gateway 60 building. The company currently occupies the 402,500 square-foot Alliance Gateway 62 building. Both facilities are in the Roanoke, Texas section of the Alliance Global Logistics Hub.
This deal shows Hillwood’s ability to accommodate customer growth at Alliance. LEGO can expand its operation to a facility down the street from its existing facility, thus avoiding many of the operational and labor issues inherent with most moves. LEGO joins a list of companies, such as General Mills, Motorola, ATC Logistics, SC Johnson & Sons, LG Electronics, and Bell Helicopter that have expanded at Alliance.
Lego’s distribution center is managed by Exel Inc., a third-party logistics company that operates in approximately 2.5 million square feet of space at Alliance.
Exel was represented by Dan Cook of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas. Hillwood was represented in-house by Tony Creme.
LEGO first opened its North American Distribution Center at Alliance in 2006. The 756,000 square-foot Alliance Gateway 60 building is located at 300 Freedom Drive.
The LEGO Group (www.lego.com) is a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company is engaged in the development of children’s creativity through playing and learning. Based on the world-famous LEGO brick, the company today provides toys, experiences and teaching materials for children in more than 130 countries. The LEGO Group has approximately 8,000 employees, and it is the world’s fifth largest manufacturer of play materials.
The Alliance Global Logistics Hub is part of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas development. In addition to the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, the development includes the Monterra Village apartment home community, Alliance Town Center, the corporate campuses and golf courses of Circle T Ranch, and the Heritage and Saratoga residential communities. More than 50 companies at AllianceTexas are ranked on the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private Firms.
Hillwood, (www.hillwood.com) a Perot company, is ranked as one of the top commercial real estate developers in the country and the top residential developer in Dallas-Fort Worth. The company's developments currently house facilities for 65 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. In addition to AllianceTexas, Hillwood is best known for its development of AllianceCalifornia near Los Angeles and the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas.
HILLWOOD SELLS PROPERTIES IN LAS VEGAS AREA TO RIDGEWOOD AND ANGELO, GORDON
5 Properties Can Accommodate 1,800 Lots, 759 Multifamily Units
DALLAS, Texas (May 18, 2010) – Hillwood has sold a portfolio of five primarily residential properties in the Las Vegas, Nevada market to a joint venture between Ridgewood Real Estate Partners and Angelo, Gordon & Co. This sale represents more than 1,800 residential lots and land that is already zoned for 759 multifamily units, plus approximately 10 acres for commercial use. Representing Hillwood in the sale was Michael Stuart, senior vice president of Colliers International – Las Vegas.
“The significant investment that already has been made in these parcels made this an extremely attractive portfolio,” said Brian Carlock, senior vice president of Hillwood Residential. “With the recent upswing in demand for developable residential property, Hillwood decided that this was an opportune time to market these properties.”
Approximately $70 million in infrastructure is already in place on this collection of properties, which Hillwood purchased as part of a larger portfolio in 2008. Nearly 600 of the residential lots are finished and more than 900 lots are partially completed. The remaining lots are zoned, entitled and ready for lot construction. This assemblage can accommodate single-family and multifamily homes, in addition to retail and commercial uses.
“With the substantially complete infrastructure and the increase in activity in the Las Vegas market, we are very excited to add these projects to our portfolio,” said Jonathan Grebow, president of Ridgewood Real Estate Partners.
Properties in the sale include:
Bilbray Ranch (Laughlin, Nevada) – The property in Bilbray Ranch consists of 497 single-family, triplex and duplex lots that are already completed in one of the nicest planned communities in Laughlin, which is a popular retirement and second-home community located along the Colorado River.
Boulder Ranch (Las Vegas) – In East Las Vegas, Boulder Ranch features partially completed lots for 114 single-family homes and 474 triplex homes. The 55-acre community is gated with many improvements already in place.
Boulder Ranch Apartments (Las Vegas) – Also in East Las Vegas, this 9.7-acre site is partially graded for apartment homes. Current plans call for nine 3-story buildings.
The Canyons (Henderson, Nevada) – Situated on nearly 150 acres, The Canyons’ original site plan called for 384 single-family lots. The property has since been reconfigured and rezoned for various multifamily and commercial uses. The parcel frontage on Green Valley Parkway will be built into four pods, which can support two apartment home communities, a townhome development and a commercial piece.
North Ranch (North Las Vegas, Nevada) – The 42 acres, which is part of a gated community, has the capacity for 122 duplex and 312 triplex homes in fast-growing North Las Vegas. Approximately 100 of the lots have already been completed. The others are 85% complete.
Ridgewood Real Estate Partners (www.ridgewoodrep.com), based in Florham Park, New Jersey, is a land development and investment company, specializing in residential projects. Ridgewood recently closed over $300 million of transactions, focusing primarily on the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Florida, Phoenix, Las Vegas and other areas of the Southwest and California.
Angelo, Gordon & Co. (www.angelogordon.com) is a privately-held registered investment advisor dedicated to alternative investing. The New York-based firm, founded in 1988, has expertise in a broad range of absolute return strategies. Currently, Angelo, Gordon is investing the 7th in a series of closed-end opportunistic real estate funds, representing $1.25 billion of equity capital.
Colliers (www.colliers.com) is one of the largest commercial real estate firms in the world, with 294 offices in 61 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Greater Asia. Colliers International manages more than 1.1 billion square feet of commercial property and has revenue in excess of $1.6 billion.
Hillwood (www.hillwood.com) is one of the top residential and commercial developers and investors in the United States. The company owns 30 residential communities and four golf courses across the country, as well as a luxury home development in Costa Rica. Hillwood has delivered nearly 20,000 single-family lots over the past two decades since it was founded in 1988.
In addition to its exceptional residential communities, Hillwood, a Perot company, is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport; the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas; and the 2,000-acre AllianceCalifornia development near Los Angeles. The company's developments currently house facilities for 65 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms.
Hillwood, best known for its 17,000-acre Alliance development in far north Fort Worth, said Wednesday that it bought a $38 million loan from a national residential lender secured by land owned by developer Bluegreen Corp.
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DALLAS, Texas (May 5, 2010) – Hillwood, a Perot company, has purchased a $38 million performing loan from a national residential lender. The loan is secured by five partially developed master-planned communities and two golf courses in Georgia and Texas. The loan collateral within the communities includes more than 800 platted single-family lots and 4,000 planned residential acres.
“Hillwood is actively pursuing acquisitions of residential loans throughout the country,” said Fred Balda, president of Hillwood Residential. “The purchase of these loans is a natural extension of our core business. Our access to capital and our experience as a residential lot developer give us the unique ability to underwrite and close transactions in a quick and efficient manner.
“In this deal, we quickly became comfortable with the borrower, its business plan, and the value and positioning in their respective markets. Our familiarity with those markets, as well as our understanding of the development process, allowed us to move from offer to close in just 45 days.”
Hillwood is one of the top residential and commercial developers and investors in the United States. The company owns more than 30 residential communities and four golf courses across the country, as well as a luxury home development in Costa Rica. Hillwood has delivered close to 20,000 single-family lots over the past two decades since it began in 1988.
In addition to its exceptional residential communities, Hillwood (www.hillwood.com) is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport; the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas; and the 2,000-acre AllianceCalifornia development near Los Angeles. The company's developments currently house facilities for 65 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms.
LG Electronics plans to move as many as 65 cellphone repair jobs from Alabama to Alliance in far north Fort Worth next month, and that number could grow to a few hundred jobs during the year, a company executive said Monday.
LG, a Korean consumer electronics company with worldwide operations, is consolidating its cellphone repair business into one location, said Kevin Grey, human resources director at the company's facility in Huntsville, Ala. It has operated a manufacturing and repair facility there since 1981.
Ross Perot Jr. and James E. Sowell have been selected for induction into the North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame.
Perot, chairman of both The Perot Group and Hillwood, and Sowell, president of Sowell and Co., will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for having made a significant impact on the commercial real estate industry in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They were selected by the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors, and will be honored at NTCAR's 23rd annual Hall of Fame Induction and Reunion on May 13 at Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas.
Twin brothers John and Jerome (Jerry) Bradley will together receive the Michael F. McAuley Lifetime Achievement Award at the same event.
In 1977 the Bradley brothers started their own firm, Bradley & Bradley Realtors Inc., and began a career-long involvement in downtown Dallas real estate. Their firm has assisted in the brokerage of more than 110 properties in downtown Dallas. Recently the firm worked with Parkland Hospital to assemble more than 30 acres as part of the site of the new Parkland Hospital.
Usually the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to one individual, but this year the selection committee made an exception, said Robert Grunnah, co-chairman of the Hall of Fame Event.
"As twins, Jerry and John Bradley together have accomplished a great deal professionally and given generously of themselves to numerous charitable and civic endeavors,” Grunnah said.
Perot serves as chairman of The Perot Group, which manages the various Perot family interests that include real estate, oil and gas and financial investments. He's also chairman of Hillwood, one of the nation's top real estate developers, which he founded in 1988.
Perot is a founder of Perot Systems Corp. and served on its board of directors beginning in 1988. He served as chairman of the board from 2004 until the company was acquired by Dell Inc. in 2009.
Sowell is the president of Sowell and Co., an investment firm formed in 1972. Sowell was also the majority stockholder in American General Hospitality Inc., which was the largest operator of Hilton Hotels in the world.
Sowell has served on the board of directors of several New York Stock Exchange companies, including NL Industries, Todd Shipyards Corp., Lomas and Nettleton Mortgage Investors, and Ketchum Drug Co. He has also served as chairman of the Board of Regents for Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Medical School, and is a past president of the Boy Scouts of America's Circle Ten Council.
“Ross Perot Jr. and Jim Sowell have distinguished themselves in North Texas and across America for innovative, smart leadership in the field of commercial real estate and many other arenas,” Darrell Hurmis, co-chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, said in a prepared statement. “They both have made a very remarkable impact on our industry that will be long remembered.”
The Hall of Fame was launched in 1988, when the first six distinguished real estate recipients were Trammell Crow; Lyn Davis; Henry S. Miller Jr.; John M. Stemmons Sr. and his brother, L. Storey Stemmons; and Angus G. Wynne. Later additions to the roster have included John Carpenter, Roger Staubach, Henry S. Miller Company and others.
General tickets to the Hall of Fame induction are $100 per person. Premium tickets are $150 per person.
FORT WORTH, Texas (April 27, 2010) – Hillwood has renewed leases for more than 3 million square feet at its AllianceTexas development over the past year. The renewals, many of which were with industry leading companies, also retained close to 3,900 jobs.
“While new deals tend to attract the most attention, renewals are just as important because they maintain the vitality of the development and show that existing companies are successful here,” said Bill Burton, senior vice president of Hillwood Properties, the developer and manager of AllianceTexas. “Our team at Alliance is particularly proud of the fact that we’ve retained every customer and every job we possibly could in a development that has 230 companies, 28,000 jobs and more than 31 million square feet.”
One of the largest renewals over the past year was for a total of 556,039 square feet in two buildings with ATC Logistics & Electronics, which employs 2,600 workers at Alliance. Renewals also were completed with industry leaders, such as LG Electronics (499,797 square feet), General Mills (670,000), S.C. Johnson (408,000), Exel Logistics/Texas Instruments (409,914) and Coca-Cola (127,200), over the past 12 months.
Heavy Hitters—Q&As: Industrial Project Leasing brokers
Steve Aldrich
Hillwood
HOMETOWN: Dallas
COLLEGE: Trinity University
CAREER DEBUT: 1997
SURVIVING THE EARLY YEARS: I loved my early years in the business. I got to see the tech bubble burst early on. I had no money, anyway, so it was a great lesson. When making money is easy and things seem too good to be true, they are.
TOP 2009 DEAL: My favorite deal of 2009 was having our second little girl, Georgia.
GOOD TIMES: Driving through AllianceTexas every day for the past 12 years. When I started, Highway 114 was a two-lane blacktop and we had less than 10 million square feet on the ground. It’s easy to lose perspective when you see something every day, but I try and remind myself regularly what has happened out here over the past 12 years.
CHALLENGES: We are having to get creative, but I think that’s a good thing. Fortunately, we have an excellent project to sell. Overall, however, the market is going to have to equilibrate, which isn’t completely in our control. We like seeing deals completed and if they don’t happen at Alliance, we like to see them happen anywhere in the market.
FOOTBALL PLAYER YOU’RE MOST LIKE: Ki Aldrich.
Tony Creme
Hillwood Properties
HOMETOWN: Syracuse, N.Y.
COLLEGE: Southern Methodist University
CAREER DEBUT: 1998
SURVIVING THE EARLY YEARS: I used the first few years to network and learn as much as I could so I would be prepared when the market came back.
TOP 2009 DEAL: Q-Edge, a 365,000-square-foot lease. It was a heavily negotiated deal, and the competition was extremely intense at the very end.
GOOD TIMES: Every deal we do is rewarding, especially the development deals that add new product to our project, AllianceTexas.
CHALLENGES: Filling our large blocks of vacant space. We are staying very close to our customers and getting aggressive on every deal we see.
OPPORTUNITIES: Foreclosed properties. That is where people are willing to put their money.
FOOTBALL PLAYER YOU’RE MOST LIKE: Peyton Manning. He always takes control of his offense and makes quick decisions on the fly to adapt to each situation.
Heavy Hitters—Q&As: Rookies
Reid Goetz
Hillwood Development Corp.
HOMETOWN: Fort Worth
COLLEGE: The University of Texas at Austin
CAREER DEBUT: 2005
SURVIVING THE EARLY YEARS: One of the most challenging aspects of beginning a career in commercial real estate is having to build professional relationships from scratch, as well as learning every piece of the development, leasing, acquisition and capital sides of business. I learned to never miss an opportunity to network and to become a sponge whenever I was in business meetings or working on new projects.
TOP 2009 DEAL: Each individual deal we did within AllianceTexas presented its own set of challenges and unique characteristics, making each deal my favorite in its own way.
GOOD TIMES: The relationships. Forming long-term relationships with customers and brokers in the marketplace has been very rewarding and is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this business.
CHALLENGES: One of the biggest challenges is developing original ideas in an effort to create new business opportunities while responding to the changing needs of companies in the current economic conditions. At Alliance, our approach to responding to those challenges remains the same — keeping our heads down and continuing to work hard while providing the best possible operating environment and services to our customers.
OPPORTUNITIES: The greatest opportunities are going to lie in the way companies re-evaluate the way they do business. As companies look for ways to improve operating costs, increase efficiencies in logistics and supply chains, I believe that AllianceTexas is in a terrific position to provide those companies with the compelling options to meet their needs.
FOOTBALL PLAYER YOU’RE MOST LIKE: Without being too partial to my alma mater, I would have to say Colt McCoy’s approach to football best exemplifies my approach to business (sorry, I can’t help it). Colt looks at each day as an opportunity to work harder and become a better student of the sport, a philosophy that guided him to the most wins for a quarterback in NCAA history and to the largest stage in NCAA collegiate sports. While any hopes of a national championship stage long passed me by (pro quarterback abilities and a sub-5.0 40 were never in my future), I still go into the office each day with the attitude to work harder than the previous day and with the desire to become a better professional.
Heavy Hitters—Q&As: Retail brokers
Mark Miller
COLLEGE: Texas A&M
SURVIVING THE EARLY YEARS: The early years were not too rough. I learned to be patient. I stuck it out because it was fun and interesting.
TOP 2009 DEAL: Kroger Marketplace because it was the first one they were doing in Fort Worth and although it was a challenging deal, it will be a good deal for everyone.
GOOD TIMES: Just the day to day learning of the different facets of the business.
CHALLENGES: Financing. Trying to find ways to get a harmonious marriage between equity and debt where everyone benefits.
OPPORTUNITIES: Single tenant deals.
FOOTBALL PLAYER YOU’RE MOST LIKE: Dat Nguyen because he is an Aggie and he was tenacious and persevered.