Breakfast Forum: The Houston Commercial Real Estate Markets – What’s Ahead for 2008

Welcome W. Wilson, Jr., President & CEO
Welcome Group

As President & CEO of Welcome Group, Welcome oversees the development, leasing, construction and purchase of single tenant office, lab, manufacturing and industrial facilities in Texas. Welcome Group has built over 150 such facilities since 1998 and still owns over 75 containing in excess of 3 ½ million square feet.  Welcome has been a real estate developer for more than 35 years with extensive experience in industrial development, residential subdividing, retail centers and office buildings. He was President of Belmont Corporation, owner of a 25,000 acre project near Phoenix, Director of Dover Homes of Houston, builder of more than 3,000 homes in Texas and as an officer of TCP Realty Services, responsible for the redevelopment of a downtown Houston office building as well as other Houston office buildings totaling more than two-million square feet.  He also serves as a principal of Kingham ∙ Dalton ∙ Wilson Ltd., a Design/Build affiliate of GSL Welcome and is a Director of River Oaks Financial Group, Inc.,

In 2011, Governor Rick Perry appointed Welcome to the Board of Regents of the University of Houston. He also serves on the Board of the Houston Realty Business Coalition, the Texas Business Hall of Fame, the Houston Food Bank, and the American Lung Association Advisory Board. Welcome serves as Chairman of the Board for the Southwest Houston Redevelopment Authority and Southwest Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Twenty as well as the Energy Collaborative Cluster Council and the Common Grounds Initiative Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership, and is a member of the “C” Club.  Welcome is a former Chairman of the End Hunger Network, as a Board Member of the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation, as a Board Member of the Greater Sharpstown Management District, on the Houstonian Club Advisory Board, and as President of the Kinkaid School Alumni Association.  Welcome attended The University of Denver and is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

Craig Hausman, President
Yancey Huasman

"There's not much we can't do,"says Craig Hausman, who co-founded Yancey-Hausman Interests, the successful full-service commercial real estate company in Houston more than 37 years ago. Craig, who attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston, specializes in property management, tenant representation and corporate marketing efforts. He takes pride in the knowledgeable staff dedicated to bringing the company successfully into the future.

Joel Marshall, Senior Vice President
Trendmaker Development Company

Joel has been with Trendmaker since 1986, holding various positions from Assistant Controller to his current position of Senior Vice President. Joel is responsible for the development of several Houston area communities including Green Trails and Grand Lakes (winner of the NAHB's Best in American Living Award for best master planned community in the US) in west Houston, Crossroads in northwest Houston, Silvercreek in Pearland, Crighton Ridge and Crighton Woods in Conroe, and the new 3,200 acre master planned community, Cross Creek Ranch, in Fulshear. Joel holds a MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS from Kansas State University. Prior to joining Trendmaker he was with Barnes-Connally Partnership in Austin.

David Pratt, Vice President of Leasing
General Growth Properties

David has over 20 years of experience in retail leasing. His career has focused primarily on the leasing and redevelopment of super retail centers around the country. He serves as the head of leasing for General Growth Properties' (GGP) Texas/Oklahoma group. This portfolio consists of 19 owned and managed regional malls totaling over 22 million square feet of retail. Prior to joining GGP, he served as Director of Retail Leasing for The RREEF Funds where he managed 15 power, community and lifestyle centers predominantly in Texas and on the West Coast. Prior to RREEF, he was Senior Leasing Representative for Jones Lang Wooton Realty Advisors, and was responsible for leasing a nine center portfolio in Austin, Texas. David holds a BA in Economics from the University of Texas.