Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
A “Seat of Heat” panel discussion, “Creating Real Estate Value in the Brave New World,” will highlight a March 6 conference and banquet celebrating the 25th year of the graduate program in land development at Texas A&M.
Tailored for real estate professionals, the event, "Land Development Post Meltdown: The 25th Anniversary Aggie Master of Science in Land Development Conference and Banquet” runs from noon to 9 p.m. at the Langford Architecture Center on the Texas A&M campus in College Station.
Conference details and registration information are available online.
The “Seat of Heat” event, set for 6 – 7:30 p.m. in the Langford Architecture Center’s Preston Geren Auditorium, features five distinguished speakers, all graduates or friends of the Aggie MSLD program, in a lively discussion moderated by Jorge Vanegas, dean of the Texas A&M College of Architecture.
This unique venue, promises an “intelligent, insightful and entertaining discussion between a select panel of industry leaders on a topic that is fundamental to the future of our industry,” said Geoffrey Booth, MSLD program coordinator and holder of the Youngblood Endowed Professorship in Land Development.
The “Seat of Heat” panelists include: Jonathan H. Brinsden ’91, Urban Land Institute president-elect and CEO of Midway Companies, Houston; Tim Crawford ’96, president and owner of Resurgent Ventures, LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina; Rick Rodriguez ’84, president Magi Real Estate, San Antonio; Mike Land ’84, town manager, Prosper, Texas; and Dan Leverett ’80, vice president-commercial development, The Woodlands Development Company, The Woodlands, Texas.
“Seat of Heat” topic overview:
By Geoffry Booth
In the mid 2000’s the U.S. and world economy was awash with investment capital—credit standards were reduced and real estate cap rates dropped to historically low levels.
There was a view that through the wonders of financial engineering, sub-prime assets could be managed to investment grade, using credit default swaps and other derivative financial and insurance products issued by AAA corporations and institutions, thought to be too big to fail, and so rated by the Investment Rating Agencies. The consequence in late 2008/early 2009 was a frozen credit market and the historic intervention of the U.S. government, its agencies, and G20 governments to save the world economy from another Great Depression.
Along with a realization that we are going to have do more with less resources; the continuing media focus global warming and sustainability; and a continuing tight supply of real estate capital, the real estate asset class faces a brave new world—one in which the focus will shift back to the underlying value of real estate assets. That value is created through conceptualization, alignment with market opportunity, design, delivery, and management—and less so, through financial engineering.
So, just how do you create real estate value in this brave new world? Our moderator and host, Jorge Vanegas, dean of the Texas A&M College of Architecture, will probe our select panel of industry leaders on the lessons they have learned and the unique insights they bring to matters of sustainable development, public/private partnerships, and more, to create real estate value.
“Seat of Heat” panelists
Moderator, Jorge Vanegas is dean of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University, holder of the Sandy and Bryan Mitchell Master Builder Endowed Chair, director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development, and a professor of architecture.
Prior to joining the Texas A&M faculty in 2006, Vanegas held faculty appointments in construction engineering and management in civil and environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (1993-2005), and at Purdue University (1988-1993). He holds graduate degrees in CEM/CEE from Stanford University (Ph.D.’88 & M.S.’85), and an undergraduate degree from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia (B.S.’79 in Architecture). He is a registered Architect in Colombia.
His primary areas of research, teaching, and professional activities include, among others: creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in design; built environment sustainability — urban, infrastructure, and facilities; and advanced strategies, tools, and methods for integrated capital asset delivery and management in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.
Jonathan H. Brinsden ’91 serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Midway Companies. As one of three members of the Midway executive team, he helps guide the company's overall business strategy and is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining Midway Companies, Brinsden served as president and COO of Hamm Corporation, a Houston-based development company.
Brinsden holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design, and a Master of Science in Land and Real Estate Development, all from Texas A&M University. He is an adjunct professor at Texas A&M University, an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and the Urban Land Institute.
Tim Crawford ’96 (MSLD 1996) is president and owner of Resurgent Ventures, LLC in Charlotte North Carolina. He graduated from Texas A&M with an MSLD degree having completed two programmed internships, one at Disney Development Company in Celebration, Florida and the other at LandCraft Properties in Charlotte.
Initially, he served for three years with a Charlotte area land developer as its director of new development, creating a lot pipeline of over 400 lots per year — up from less than 100 per year when he started.
Leaving that role as a partner Crawford went to work on his own portfolio for an ensuing three-year period, specializing in entitlements, small parcel developments and land flipping for both suburban and urban projects. In 2002, Tim pursued his own urban, vertical development ambitions and started the Citiline, LLC, an entity focused on mixed-use infill projects. In 2005 Citiline expanded into other lines including a second home business and a commercially-oriented construction company that built for its own high-density accounts.
At its peak, Crawford’s company, Citiline Resortline Development and Construction, operated in three markets and had annual sales of over $50 million, while also holding an entitled land pipeline of over 2,000 dwelling units and over 600,000 commercial square feet.
Late in 2009, Crawford permanently shuttered the company in response to the vast financial and transactional market collapses in Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the U.S. Tim is in the process of relocating his family to Houston to be closer to his extended family.
He is currently completing an engagement on a distressed asset portfolio for two lenders in Charlotte via his Resurgent Ventures entity. Having completed year one of the intense three year Harvard Business School's Owner's/President's Management program, Tim hopes to graduate the program within the next few years.
J. Rick Rodriguez ’84 is the chairman and chief executive officer of Brass Real Estate Funds and the Magi Real Estate Services in San Antonio. He has been successful in the real estate construction, development, brokerage and property management industries for over 25 years. Rodriguez began acquiring properties in 1991 and formed Brass Real Estate Funds in 1996 in order to create a vehicle for private and institutional investors to acquire and own income-producing real estate. Since then, Brass Funds have invested in projects with total capitalization of more than $230 million.
Prior to forming his own companies, Rodriguez was an officer in three other real estate companies where he was responsible for real estate acquisitions, management, development, and finance. He formed and managed Magi Realty, Inc. in 1991, which was recognized by INC Magazine in 2001 as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. His organization has since grown into the Magi Real Estate Services Group — a diversified set of service companies that develop, build, manage and lease real estate assets.
Rodriguez has been the general partner and limited partner in various real estate investment partnerships. He has been personally responsible for the acquisition, financing, management, and development of over $500 million in real estate. He has experience building in Texas, Colorado, Illinois and many areas of Spain. The San Antonio Business Journal named him among “Who’s Who in Commercial Real Estate”.
Rodriguez is a member of the Young Presidents Organization, the Entrepreneurs Organization, San Antonio Home Builders Association, Presidents Board of the San Antonio Real Estate Council, and the San Antonio Apartment Association. He is the moderator of the YPO International Forum on Private Real Estate Equity. He has served as chairman of the Advisory Board to Texas A&M University’s Masters Degree Program in Real Estate Development. He previously served as a city councilman for the city of Hill Country Village, Texas. He has also been an adjunct professor at Texas A&M in the Master Science in Land Development program. Rodriguez holds a Master of Science in Land Development and a Bachelor’s Degree in Building Construction from Texas A&M University.
Mike Land ’84 is town manager for Prosper, Texas. He grew up in Houston and received a Bachelor of Environmental Design and Master of Science in Land Development from Texas A&M University and is a credentialed manager through the International City/County Management Association.
Working in Prosper, Land has had the privilege of building a new organization and working on multiple private-public partnerships with companies such as Blue Star Land and Forest City.
He previously served as city manager for the Gainesville, executive director of the Southwestern Diabetic Foundation and the community development director for the city of Gainesville. Prior to moving to Gainesville, Land worked in Sarasota and Orland, Florida as a project manager for a land planning firm, and in Tavares, Florida as the city’s planning and zoning director. While in Sarasota, Land served as chairman of Sarasota County’s Affordable Housing Task Force.
Land is a charter member of the Prosper Rotary International Club, chairman of the Northern Collin County Leadership Program Executive Committee and a Certified Public Manager Advisory Committee member of the University of Texas at Arlington.
The Collin County Business Press recently recognized Land as one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century.
Dan B. Leverett ’80 is vice president – commercial for The Woodands Development Company in The Woodlands, Texas. He serves as a board member for the Houston Chapter of CoreNet Global, the South Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership, Stewart Title, The Woodlands Commercial Owners Association, Town Center Owners Association and The Trade Center Association. He is also a member of the Urban Land Institute, holds a broker’s license, is a Federal Aviation Administration licensed pilot and a registered engineer in Texas.
The Woodlands Development Company is a joint venture of the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund and General Growth Properties, Inc. As vice president for the commercial division, he has profit and loss responsibility for all commercial operations of the company including asset monetization, land sales and acquisitions, leasing and property management, financial analysis, land planning and architectural design and development of new urban mixed use office, retail, condominium, hotel and multi-family projects in The Woodlands.
Prior to joining The Woodlands Development Company, Leverett worked with Exxon Corporation for 10 years in various positions with three subsidiaries, Exxon USA, where he managed Exxon's office and industrial portfolio in the United States, Canada and Central America; Friendswood Development, where he marketed and developed commercial office and retail properties; and Exxon Chemical as a financial manager.
Before working for Exxon, Leverett worked overseas with Atwood Oceanics, Inc. for eight years in the offshore petroleum and shipping industry, where he held various management positions in technical sales, construction and operations of an offshore drilling and shipping fleet. He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering (1980) and a master of business administration degree in finance (1988) from Texas A&M University.
- Posted: Feb. 15, 2010 -
