Prolific Dallas Developer Mack Pogue Dies At 89

Mack Pogue, co-founder of Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co., died last week at the age of 89.

Pogue started LPC in 1965 with Trammell Crow. At first, the company focused exclusively on apartments. But it began developing other commercial projects in the 1980s, including the 3.2M SF Lincoln Centre complex on Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway and the 1.1M SF Ross Tower in Downtown Dallas.

Pogue’s former co-CEO Bill Duvall called him “one of the most prolific and influential real estate leaders of our time” in an interview with the Dallas Morning News.

“For those of us who were lucky enough to work closely with him as he built Lincoln Property Co., he will be remembered as an incredible partner, mentor, and friend,” Duvall said. “There will never be another like him, and he will be greatly missed.”

Pogue and Duvall were succeeded by Bill’s son Clay Duvall and longtime LPC executive David Binswanger in early 2023. 

The transition occurred during a challenging time for commercial real estate, but in an interview with Bisnow, the younger Duvall said the firm had been well positioned by Pogue and his father to withstand economic downturns.

“We see ourselves as standing on the shoulders of giants,” Duvall said. “Those men built what we all hope to be a recession-resistant franchise.”

Pogue had humble beginnings as an East Texas boy from Sulphur Springs, according to the DMN. He got involved in commercial real estate in the early 1960s and went on to develop more than 200,000 apartments nationwide, including the sprawling Village complex off Southwestern Boulevard.

Pogue parted ways with Crow in the late ’70s, but the two remained friendly competitors, Trammell’s son Harlan Crow told the DMN.

LPC went on to become one of the world’s largest commercial property firms, with business in the U.S. and Europe. Pogue is survived by his wife Jean, brother Jack, sons Blake and Blair, nine grandchildren and a great-grandson.