Up Close with Mark Sondock
Stream completed its first retail development in Houston, the Center at Pearland Parkway, earlier this year. Now it’s gearing up a number of other developments, managing director Mark Sondock tells us.
Building the 165k SF Center at Pearland Parkway was a check off his bucket list, Mark tells us. (He’d never built something of that magnitude.) The property is 94% leased, and now Stream's beginning the second phase. It's also actively working on its next pipeline, including Baytown Shops, which’ll be a couple of hundred thousand square feet. The team's talking with national anchor tenants, and Mark (pictured here at ICSC Las Vegas) tells us it's a strong location at the lighted intersection of Garth and Hunt roads. The next thing on his bucket list: a portfolio or high-profile property acquisition. (Or a lengthy vacation, he’s heard those are nice.)
Mark was always interested in real estate, but started off in computers/IT. A cousin in the industry told him to give real estate a try for six months, and he’d either love or hate it. He started at Trammell Crow in retail and loved it. He’d always been drawn to retail, Mark tells us, because everyone has a connection to it. He also likes that he can drive past and watch his clients’ success. After TCC, he did a stint at NewQuest and then joined Stream in 2012 to open its retail division with Ralph Tullier, whom he had met at TCC. Mark’s pictured here with that point in Stream’s timeline.
Here’s Mark with his wife, Jennifer, and their kids Elizabeth and Sam. One of Mark’s all-time favorite assignments was being Comerica Bank’s tenant rep during the bank frenzy of ’04 to ’07. He handled their huge branch expansion, doing more than 35 deals in that time frame. He also really enjoyed working on Almeda Square, one of the first deals in his real estate career. The property was more than 65% vacant and he had just started in the industry. He called every store in a two-mile radius to see if they’d want to move there, and Hilton Furniture was the last of the day. The business owner ended up buying the center. In his free time, Mark plays guitar and fantasy football and hangs out with his family.
