HOUSTON: Chip Colvill's Secret to Success
Colvill Office Properties represents 21% of the Houston Class-A office market, but founder/CEO Chip Colvill was never even "supposed" to be in commercial real estate. (And these fish were "supposed" to be school. But they were playing hooky.) Chip tells us he was raised to work in his dad's industrial manufacturing company. (Above, Chip's to the far right of his uncle and father George.) And Chip did, until he saw his friends going into real estate. In 1984 he was hired by Lou Cushman as a tenant rep broker.
Chip stuck with the niche through stints with Trammell Crow, JMB, TrizecHahn, and Tishman Speyer, and when he founded Colvill in 2001, he followed Lou's advice to focus on one thing (exclusive landlord agency listing) and be great at it. Here's Chip between Colvill's Mike Stanton and partner Michael Anderson with Thomas Properties' Randy Scott and Tom Ricci at Michael's wedding. Colvill now has 17 employees and a 16M SF portfolio, and it just opened a Dallas office. Chip tells us Austin and outside of Texas are next.
