Jumpstarting Downtown Houston

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner appointed Michael Heckman to the position of President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Houston First Corporation in August 2020. Houston First is the Houston region’s Destination Marketing Organization, which includes the responsibility of developing and implementing strategies to promote Houston around the world through sales and marketing initiatives, public relations, TV and film projects, conventions and major event hosting. Houston First also operates more than four million square feet of premier facilities, including the George R. Brown Convention Center and Houston’s world-class performing arts buildings. Furthermore, Houston First is developing and will open Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts in Houston’s Theater District in Spring 2023 in addition to owning the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston hotel. Prior to assuming the CEO role, Heckman served as Chief Operating Officer of Strategic Initiatives for Houston First, responsible for developing a new strategic direction for the corporation. He has also served as the Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Event Development, with responsibilities ranging from major events like the Super Bowl to a portfolio of entrepreneurial enterprises. Heckman has a more than 20-year career with leadership roles spanning destination marketing and hotels, as well as sports and event management. He has been part of the Houston First team since 2009.

Tyler serves as a Senior Vice President for the Houston Office Division of Transwestern. He is responsible for leasing office space citywide. Tyler focuses his efforts on understanding his client’s goals and then providing maximum value in relation to the marketplace. Tyler joined Transwestern in 2016 and is currently representing numerous owners in all major submarkets across the city. Being actively involved in all of Houston’s major office submarkets provides Tyler with a strong breadth of market knowledge and broker relationships. His previous roles include in-house leasing positions at both Skanska and Hines. That in-house leasing experience has continued to prove valuable, as Tyler approaches his business by viewing transactions from an owners perspective. Tyler began his real estate career in 2005 as a financial analyst for Newmark (now NKF). His financial background continues to serve as a strength in structuring leasing transactions that maximize his client’s goals. Over his fifteen-year career Tyler has leased approximately 3.5 million square feet with a lease value in excess of $1 Billion.

In 1983, geologist-turned-restaurateur Tracy decided to forsake the plotting of America’s geothermal energy fields for a more people-oriented profession when she opened her first restaurant, Backstreet Cafe, with her uncle in an old house on the edge of Houston’s River Oaks. It was the turning point of her career and life. She met and married Hugo Ortega, whom she hired to work at Backstreet Cafe, and together they have opened Hugo’s (2002), Caracol (2013) and Xochi (2017), and published two cookbooks: Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico (2012) and Backstreet Kitchen: Seasonal Recipes from Our Neighborhood Cafe (2013). The Houston native was inducted into the Texas Restaurant Association’s Hall of Honor in August 2020; is a four-time semi-finalist for Outstanding Restaurateur for the James Beard Foundation Awards; named Outstanding Restaurateur of the Year by the Texas Restaurant Association; and has been recognized by Houston Business Journal with a Most Admired CEO Award and Women Mean Business Award. She was also named Restaurateur of the Year at the Houston Culinary Awards, and selected to serve on a special three-person “She Means Business” panel event sponsored by Facebook. Tracy is currently a board member of the Better Business Bureau and the Houston Food Bank. Tracy is also co-operator of Third Coast Restaurant and conference center, located in the Texas Medical Center, and part owner of Prego restaurant in Rice Village and Origen restaurant in Oaxaca, Mexico. Tracy and Hugo were approached by celebrity chef Michael Mina in 2017 to do a “pop-up” concept at his Mina Test Kitchen in San Francisco, and Mi Almita was born. The concept is currently open in Honolulu and opening soon in Los Angeles. They and their team also created the menu for Hugo’s Cocina which is located in Terminal C at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

Jim Lloyd is a Shareholder in Winstead’s Real Estate Development & Investments Practice Group and a member of Winstead’s Healthcare Industry Group. For more than 13 years, clients have relied on Jim’s experience and skills concerning sophisticated commercial real estate transactions and financings. He regularly works on purchases, sales, development and financing of all types of commercial properties, including medical office, class A office, retail and multifamily projects. He also advises landlords and tenants on leases, workouts, evictions and remedies, including addressing the unique leasing concerns of life science companies. His experience in finance includes construction, mezzanine and permanent financing, subscription lines and other credit facilities. Jim has lived in Houston since 1998 and he and his wife Claudette are the proud parents of two boys, ages 14 and 12.

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.