Houston State of the Market

Austin Alvis is the President of NewQuest Properties, responsible for leading strategic initiatives and day-to-day management of NewQuest’s development, construction, and asset management activities. Austin joined NewQuest in 2015 and was previously Vice President of Brokerage and a Development Partner with NewQuest, where he was responsible for procurement and oversight of development projects in the Texas market. Prior to NewQuest, Austin began his career at BOK Financial (Bank of Texas), underwriting commercial lending relationships in Houston. Austin is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Advisory Board of the Houston Region Business Coalition (HRBC), and the Board of Directors of the Fort Bend Economic Development Council. Austin earned a B.A. in Economics from Southwestern University and an M.B.A. from Rice University.

As Chief Executive Officer, Philip is responsible for leading Morgan’s strategic planning and growth across all business activities – development, acquisitions, construction and property management. Philip chairs the Executive Committee and serves on the firm’s Investment Committee and Advisory Board. Since joining Morgan, Philip has been involved in the development and acquisitions of over 7,000 units at a cost exceeding $1.8B in Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado and Florida. Prior to joining Morgan, Philip co-founded BlueRoot Partners to take advantage of opportunities acquiring distressed real estate assets in Texas. His experience also includes evaluating real estate debt investment opportunities while at CBRE Capital Partners in New York and assessing student housing development opportunities while at Campus Living Villages. Philip holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. Philip is an active member of Urban Land Institute (ULI), the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), and is on the Multifamily Leadership Board for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Philip also serves on the Finance Committee for the Holocaust Museum Houston and is a member of Young President’s Organization (YPO).

Mr. Meyer is the co-founder, co-owner, and President of Lovett Industrial, an entity formed in partnership with Frank Liu in 2020. Mr. Meyer's experience encompasses the development or acquisition of more than 20 million square feet of industrial real estate representing an aggregate value in excess of $1.5 billion. Mr. Meyer has an extensive track record in sourcing, capitalization, and execution of large-scale industrial development and acquisition projects across the U.S. Prior to Lovett, Mr. Meyer served as a partner and Managing Director at Hines Interests in Houston for 7 years, where he was responsible for overseeing Hines’ expansion into industrial real estate development across the U.S. Prior to Hines, Mr. Meyer served as Director of Construction and Development for NewQuest Properties, where he oversaw the development of approximately 3 million square feet of retail and office projects. Mr. Meyer graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in Economics and Spanish. He is a father of four, an avid duck hunter, and is passionate about serving the needs of Houston’s underprivileged youth.

Larry Sloan serves as Midway’s Executive Vice President of Investment and Development. He is responsible for the oversight and operations of the Investment and Development Team, and executing new business initiatives across various development, value-add, and acquisition strategies. Larry is also a member of Midway’s Leadership Team and Investment Committee. Larry joined Midway in October of 2016 with more than 18 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Midway, he served as Senior Vice President of Investments for Monogram Residential (NYSE: MORE). During his tenure, he was a member of the Leadership Team and a Senior Executive Officer of the REIT, where he completed over $1.8 billion of core development and acquisition investments nationally and participated in the listing of the REIT on the NYSE in the fall of 2014. Prior to Monogram, Larry spent nine years in various roles sourcing and managing commercial investment opportunities for the Archon Group, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs. Larry is an active Board member of NAIOP Houston, a member of ULI Multifamily Bronze Product Council, NMHC and ICSC. In addition, he holds a Texas real estate license and a CCIM designation and earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Texas A&M University.

Alex delivers a dynamically versed perspective in commercial real estate having experience at both an international law firm and a commercial real estate development company. For 11 years, he served clients in acquisitions, dispositions, ground-up development, landlord/tenant representation, and financing on behalf of Andrews Kurth LLP. During his career at AK, Alex developed a strong relationship with PinPoint Commercial, a real estate development company in Houston, and was later hired to serve as General Counsel. Alex's role at PinPoint allowed him to learn a greater appreciation for the business side of real estate development. He takes pride in helping clients solve problems from a practical perspective, weighing both legal and business interests. Alex received his J.D., cume laude, from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana, and his B.S., magna cume laude, in Finance from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Alex and his family are members of Chapelwood United Methodist Church and the Houston Racquet Club, where he served as President of the Board in 2020.

Bob joined Moody Rambin in 1994 bringing his office agency leasing experience to the firm. Bob has leased office properties throughout the Houston metro market for numerous clients from high net worth individuals to national institutional clients. As Managing Director and over thirty years in office leasing, Bob directs the daily operations with a team of tenured agency leasing office professionals. Prior to joining Moody Rambin, Bob started commercial real estate in 1983 with a local developer Don Mafrige Real Estate where he focused on interior construction and office property management. In 1988, Bob joined Everest Funds and worked under the late Howard Weathers where he transitioned from property management to landlord focused leased transactions. Bob is a native Houstonian, married to his wife Leia and has two daughters, Lillian (14) and Margaret (12). He enjoys spending time with family anywhere along the Texas coast or in central Texas hill country enjoying outdoor activities.

Carolyn Wolff Dorros is currently Executive Vice President of Wolff Companies, a real estate development company based in Houston, TX. She works on the oversight and management of the company’s financial asset portfolios as well as land development, strategic planning, marketing and communications. Ms. Dorros graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1997 and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she earned honors in her second year. She has served as President of the Harvard Business School Club of Houston and as Chair of her class’s 10 and 15 year reunions. Prior to joining Wolff Companies, Ms. Dorros was the Administrative Director of Neurosciences at Stanford Medical Center, where she also served as Director of Business Development. She also worked at Medsite, Inc., as a Product Manager and as APM/CSC Healthcare as a Research Associate. Ms. Dorros serves on the Boards of Texas Children’s Hospital, St. John’s School, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, New Hope Housing and the West Houston Association. She is also the past Chair of Breakthrough Houston. Ms. Dorros and her husband, Chris, have a daughter and a son.

Rand Stephens is Principal and Managing Director of Avison Young’s Houston office. He founded the office in 2010 and has guided it into one of Houston’s largest commercial real estate brokerage companies, as recognized by the Houston Business Journal. Rand also spearheaded the firm’s Texas expansion with the opening of offices in Dallas and Austin by acquiring Dallas-based Dillon Corporate Services, Inc. and Austin-based Commercial Texas. As Avison Young increases its presence in the Houston market, Rand continues expanding service lines with the recruitment of quality professionals, as well as strategic acquisition and organic growth. During his distinguished career, Rand has completed more than $5 billion in office, industrial and land transactions. He is a well-respected and highly accomplished commercial real estate professional with more than 30 years of experience in leasing, sales, development, acquisition and disposition. Rand Stephens Principal and Managing Director Credentials and professional affiliations − Dartmouth College - Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science − Past President, Society of Industrial Office Realtors (SIOR) - Gulf Coast chapter − Past Board Member, Houston Office Leasing Broker Association (HOLBA)

Founding Partner Todd Mason has more than 36 years of real estate experience as a principal and a consultant with an extensive background in land and investment sales, property acquisition, asset management, and brokerage. Mr. Mason has been in involved in more than $3.0 billion in transactions during his career. In December of 2012 he sold his brokerage operation, Mason Partners to Avison Young, but maintained separate ownership in MLB Capital Partners, LLC to continue investing as a Principal and General Partner in commercial real estate projects and in June 2020 he left Avison Young to concentrate full time on the investment and development business of MLB Capital Partners. Prior to forming Mason Partners in December 2010, Mr. Mason was a shareholder of McDade, Smith, Gould, Johnston, Mason + Company where he served as their CFO for 8 years. He served as Senior Director – Brokerage Services Group with Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) of Texas 1990-2002 and prior to his tenure with C&W Mr. Mason spent two years as an associate at the Horne Company. During his tenure at C&W,he won C&W’s coveted National Service Excellence award two times. In 1997, he was named the Commercial Broker of the Year by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). He also received the Commercial Professional of the Year for 1998 from the Association of Commercial Real Estate Professionals (ACRP), the 1998 Industrial Broker of the Year from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), the 1999 Industrial Co-broker of the Year from NAIOP, and won CCIM’s 2002 Real Estate Forecast competition. In 2004 METRO contracted with Mr. Mason to serve as their Vice President of Real Estate and Joint Development where he successfully managed the largest Right of Way acquisition plan in their history as well as structuring their first public / private partnerships for development around park and rides and train stations. In 2015, Real Estate Forum named him one of the top 20 Investment Brokers in the nation, and in 2018 he was recognized by SIOR for Top Industrial Transactions Worldwide. Education and Affiliation Mr. Mason is a Past Chairman of the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) and is currently active in the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He has previously held such titles as President of Brae Burn Country Club, President of the Exchange Club of Houston, President of the Stella Link Redevelopment Association (SLRA) and Chairman of the Board for the 16,000-member Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). He also served as Chairman of the Association of Commercial Real Estate Professionals (ACRP), the Downtown Historic District, and the Development Board of the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston. Mr. Mason has served as a Board Member of the Houston Architectural Foundation, Braes Bayou Little League, Boulevard Oaks Civic Association (BOCA) and Braeswood Place Homeowners Association and has been manager of numerousWest University Little League teams. Mr. Mason is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in petroleum geology.

As the Director of Economic Development, Elizabeth directs the City’s comprehensive and proactive economic development strategy and annual business plan; oversees the Primary Employment, Public Private Partnerships, Cultural Arts and Visit Sugar Land divisions; and coordinates with various local and regional organizations and partners. Elizabeth has over 10 years of direct Economic Development experience including 4 years with the Greater Houston Partnership and working for the City of Lubbock EDC. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Louisiana State University.

With more than 34 years of land brokerage experience in the Houston area, Designated Broker Kirk Laguarta focuses on land slated for residential and/or commercial development. He has closed multiple transactions throughout Harris, Montgomery, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, Waller and Chambers counties. His extensive knowledge of the Houston market encompasses utility, drainage, and development issues as well as land values and trends. He has applied his expertise in thousands of residential transactions for both large and small tracts, serving every top 40 homebuilder in Houston, including Johnson Development, Airia Development and Friendswood Development. Kirk has also closed commercial transactions with large, multi‐site users such as Target, Wal‐Mart, Home Depot and Kroger, and numerous investor clients. Kirk has been a designated broker for Land Advisors Organization‐Houston since 2002. He launched his career in 1984 with his father’s brokerage company, Laguarta, Gavrel and Kirk. He founded his own commercial real estate company 1991. A member the Urban Land Institute (ULI) since 2003, Kirk has served on the ULI Community Development Council Silver Committee since 2007. He has also been a member of the Greater Houston Builders Association since 2003, a member of Certified Commercial Investment Institute since 2008, and a director on the Texas Coastal Conservation Association Board since 2016. Kirk completed a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and real estate at The University of Texas at Austin in 1984. He earned his Texas real estate license in 1984 and his brokerage license in 1991.