Future of Downtown

For thirty-two years Robert M. Eury has served as President of Central Houston, Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation, formed to lead the planning and implementation of the redevelopment of Houston’s central city area—principally downtown. Mr. Eury is also the Executive Director of the Houston Downtown Management District, a special assessment district within downtown Houston. Mr. Eury was Vice President and Director of Research Development for Rice Center prior to starting Central Houston in 1983. During his nine years with Rice Center, his research focused on land use/transportation joint development, urban services delivery, development regulation, and environmental design. Prior to joining Rice Center in 1974, Mr. Eury served as Director of Community Planning Studies for the Urban Studies Center, University of Louisville, Kentucky.

Bradley Freels joined Midway in May 1983 and opened its Houston Office at that time. He became a Partner in 1990 and currently serves as the Chairman. Brad is the sole shareholder of Midway Holdings, LP., the holding company for an integrated group of real estate and investment related companies that operate under the name Midway. Under his leadership, Midway has prospered and become one of the most active developer/investment owners in the greater Houston area. Midway has developed and acquired more than 44 million square feet of office, industrial, hospitality, multi-family, medical and retail properties throughout the US and Northern Mexico, and more than 4,500 acres of business and residential communities in more than a dozen cities. Brad received both his BBA and MBA from Texas A&M University. He is involved with numerous national and local business, educational, Christian and charitable organizations.

Tim Relyea is Executive Vice Chairman of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas, Inc. (C&W) and has been on the board of C&W, served on the Compensation Committee and currently serves on the Global Management Committee. Mr. Relyea is one of the nation’s top real estate professionals. His real estate career began in 1978, and since that time Mr. Relyea has complete in excess of 60 million square feet of transactions for a total aggregate rental of more than $47 billion. Mr. Relyea was one of the first employees hired by twin brothers Louis B. Cushman and John C. Cushman, III, following the formation of Cushman Realty Corporation in 1978. Located in the Houston office, he became Executive Vice President and the #1 producing broker in the 200-person firm. In 2001, Cushman Realty merged with Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., with Mr. Relyea being named Vice Chairman. Mr. Relyea has been Cushman & Wakefield’s top global office broker four times and its top overall broker on a global basis for three different years. Mr. Relyea won the “Office Leasing Broker of the Year” award from the Houston Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) in both 1991 and 2002. He is also in the Houston (NAIOP) Hall of Fame. Apache Corporation, BHP Billiton, BG Group, Chevron, Devon Energy, Marathon Oil Company, Nabors, Hess Corporation, Citigroup, Mitsubishi, Bracewell & Giuliani , Fulbright & Jaworski, King & Spalding are just a few of the major corporations/professional firms Tim has represented.

As Executive Vice President and Director of Leasing for PM Realty Group’s (PMRG’s) Houston headquarters office, John Spafford oversees leasing and marketing initiatives for a portfolio consisting of over 12 million square feet of office space located in 90 buildings throughout Houston. The Houston headquarters office is the Company’s largest market and holds the largest office leasing portfolio in the city. With more than 28 years of experience in the Houston real estate market, Mr. Spafford has been consistently named one of the top 25 “Power Brokers” and has been recognized throughout the community as a real estate “Heavy Hitter.” He has been responsible for leasing office buildings throughout Houston for M-M Properties and the General Electric Pension Trust, Kan Am, KBS Realty Advisors and ING Clarion. Mr. Spafford previously served as Leasing Manager for the First City Texas Houston office portfolio which included three office buildings in Downtown Houston comprising two million square feet, and has acted as consultant for firms such as Credit Suisse First Boston, JPMorgan Chase and Bank One Texas. Prior to joining PMRG, Mr. Spafford served as Vice President and Partner for The Murphree Company, a national development firm headquartered in Houston. Mr. Spafford is a graduate from The University of Texas and currently serves on several office leasing committees for the Central Houston/Downtown Management District.

Paul Wittorf is executive managing partner and market leader for Transwestern’s North Texas operations, based in Dallas. He serves on Transwestern’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. During his 20-year career with Transwestern, Paul has been one of the firm’s top producers nationally, with extensive industry knowledge and proven success serving both landlords and tenants. In the Houston market, he leased and marketed office buildings and new development opportunities in every major submarket on behalf of local developers and institutional real estate investors. Paul’s tenant representation experience provides a well-rounded perspective which has proven valuable in his overall approach to commercial real estate.

Rhett started his career as a Tenant rep and Landlord broker at JLL in NYC in 2011 where he worked on a team of six including VTS Co-Founder Ryan Masiello and VTS Head of Business Development Andrew Flint. Rhett assisted in the leasing of a 2.5 million square foot portfolio in Downtown and Midtown Manhattan, while also advising technology and financial services clients in their real estate decisions. It was at JLL where Rhett found his love for real estate and technology, and from there he decided to make the jump to the start up world. Rhett officially joined VTS in the spring of 2013 and moved back home to Dallas in January of 2014 to open the Dallas office and oversee the Southeast Region. Rhett resides in Dallas, Texas but is in an airport or on an airplane about 50% of the time.