Houston 2021 Forecast

Ryan LeVasseur joined Rice Management Company in 2019 as the Managing Director of Direct Real Estate. In this role, Mr. LeVasseur is responsible for investments in strategic development opportunities in Houston. Prior to joining RMC, Mr. LeVasseur spent five years in Hines’ New York development office where he was a Managing Director. Prior to joining Hines, Mr. LeVasseur was a Director at HR&A Advisors. While at HR&A, he was responsible for urban development assignments in an array of locations including the New York City metropolitan area, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Detroit. Mr. LeVasseur received an MS in Real Estate Development from Columbia University where he was a Kinne Fellow and a Bachelor of Architecture and a BA in Architecture from Rice University. Ryan serves as a member of the Columbia GSAPP Alumni Board and was an adjunct professor at Columbia University teaching a course on real estate market analytics.

Travis Land specializes in the industrial sector of the Commercial Real Estate market. Travis has extensive closed deal experience associated with all types of real estate transactions including tenant and buyer representation, property dispositions, and build-to-suit/design-build representation. His market knowledge, combined with his hands on approach to the real estate industry, helps his clients evaluate their real estate options and choose a strategy that best meets their facility needs. Travis is recognized in the marketplace as a consistent top producer and adds significant value throughout the transaction process by creating substantial leverage for his clients. Once a client – always a client.

Susan Davenport serves as Senior Vice President, Economic Development at the Greater Houston Partnership. In this role, Susan leads the organization’s domestic and international economic development efforts and provides assistance to companies considering expanding, relocating or investing in the greater Houston region. Prior to her work in Houston, Susan served as the President/CEO of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, a five-star accredited Chamber with approximately 1,300 member companies and organizations. Prior to her role as President/CEO she served for two years as the Chamber’s Vice President of Economic Development. From 2013 through 2018, the Gainesville Chamber announced the creation of more than 1,100 new jobs and more than $400 million in new capital investment. Susan came to Gainesville in 2013 after spending 13 years with the Austin Chamber of Commerce, most recently as Senior Vice President of Global Tech Strategies. While there she served as a key team member for the Opportunity Austin strategy which created over 174,000 new jobs and enhanced regional payrolls by $8.7 billion over an 8-year period from 2004-2012. During her tenure in Austin she developed and executed Austin’s regional business retention and expansion program, Portfolio Austin, where over 4,800 regional retention visits were undertaken with 520 regional expansions tracked. She also developed and managed the Central Texas Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization, which resulted in assisting 34 companies accessing $60 million in funding with an additional $30 million for local research and university projects. Susan also developed the Greater Austin Technology Partnership and Austin TechLive, which engaged over 100 regional technology executives in various economic development activities and supported entrepreneurism through a downtown co-working technology hub partner. Susan received a Master of Public Affairs from The University of Texas at Austin and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from The University of Texas Medical Branch. She is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and is an active member of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and the International Economic Development Institute.

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.

As a shareholder in the Real Estate Development and Investments Practice Group in the Houston office of Winstead, George represents a variety of investors, developers, and lenders in connection with complex real estate transactions throughout the country. George provides counsel to purchasers and sellers in the acquisition of unimproved and income producing commercial real estate, as well as developers in all stages of the development cycle for numerous asset classes, including multi-family, office, retail, industrial, and age-restricted living projects. His real estate finance practice includes the representation of institutional lenders and borrowers in connection with debt and equity structured financing, including construction, mezzanine, and permanent loans, as well as representation of lenders and borrowers in workouts of distressed assets. As the Managing Shareholder of Winstead's Houston office, George is dedicated to preserving and cultivating the firm's culture. He is also focused on strategic areas of expansion within the Houston market to complement the attorneys in the Houston office and the needs of their clients.

Kim was born in Flushing, New York and come from many generations of New Yorkers. It was a culture shock when she first moved to Houston, Texas in the late 70's but can now say Y'all with the best of them. Kim graduated from the University of Houston with a BBA in Marketing and has worked in media her entire life. Kim played and coached soccer for many years and even spent a summer in England playing in tournaments. The oldest of three girls, she now has two sons (the first born Texans in her family), a husband and three male rescue dogs.