Last Night: Jeff Hines, Dougal Cameron And So Much Networking
Last night, Jeff Hines, Dougal Cameron and over 200 real estate professionals cut loose at Bisnow's swanky Annual Networking Event hosted by Cameron Management at Esperson.
Cameron Management president Dougal Cameron and Hines CEO Jeff Hines are longtime friends. Dougal got his start at Hines, where Jeff's father, Gerald Hines, taught him a great deal. Both Jeff and Dougal are passionate about entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Jeff has been very involved in the public charter school system KIPP, which now has 183 schools, 70,000 students and nearly 9,000 alumni in college. Dougal highlighted his activity with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, an incubator and job placement program that fights recidivism and helps ex-cons get good jobs. (He loves getting others involved in the program, and jokingly told the crowd "I'll take anyone to prison anytime.")
We snapped Jeff with Esperson tenant Lauren Rottet, one of the most celebrated interior architects in the world. (Don't miss the stellar photo-bomb by Bisnow's Mike Jax). Rottet Studio and Hines have worked together for years to create stunning spaces across the globe like the Conrad Hilton at CitiCenterDC.
Retired (yeah, sure) Joe McCluan, formerly of Hines and Cameron, was at last night's event, seen here talking to Cushman & Wakefield senior director Chad Beck. Before retiring, Joe was responsible for leasing the iconic structure, and brought it up from 40% occupancy.
Guests arrived in Esperson's new Rusk Lobby, the focal point of a major redevelopment of the building. Rusk Lobby's modern decor links Esperson's classically styled Niels and Mellie Esperson lobbies, built in 1925 and 1947, respectively. It features a new Uber drop-off zone that guests put to good use. Part of Uber's proceeds to or from the event were split with KIPP.
Knoll's Meghan Barnett Brown and Kristen Rogers had a great time catching up with Creative Solution's Cindy Andrews.
Principal/managing director of the award-winning IA Interior Architects Russell Manthy had a good time speaking with Nicole Longneck, of Nicole Longnecker Gallery; she curates Esperson's street-level gallery. IA Interior Architects is a tenant at Esperson and is designing the space of its future neighbor, Amegy Bank, which will soon occupy 16k SF.
Doug Denman, Brad Leblanc, TJ Jourdan, Bisnow's Lacee Wilke, and John Arenas discussed Jeff and Dougal's conversation. Lacee was the event's graceful MC. When she opened the floor for questioning, TJ asked an insightful question to Jeff about what it's like to work in different business cultures around the world on a regular basis.
Hines' Mark Clegg and Sandra Porter spoke with the evenings' maestros, Cameron Management's Jano Nixon Kelley and Madeline Gregory, in front of the gorgeous light wall that is part of Cameron's $20M redevelopment.
The evening was catered by Morton's Steakhouse and the music was provided by the talented musicians of the Houston Symphony, which occupies 14k SF in Esperson. At the end of the night, coffee and desserts were served at the Murphy's Deli on-site, which will soon be converted to the Esperson Express Café.
As part of Cameron Management's commitment to philanthropy and the arts, artist Taft McWhorter was on scene painting a piece that will be auctioned off at KIPP's annual gala later this year.
While the cupola wasn't open to the public, Smilebooth still allowed guest to snag the photo op. Bisnow's team jumped on the opportunity. After the third attempt, Houston reporter Kyle Hagerty, Central US editor Catie Dixon and business managers Mike Jax and Lacee Wilke finally got a good picture.
