THE LEGENDS OF REAL ESTATE AWARDS 2016 – Ralph Bivins, editor of Realty News Report, has identified the most influential people, projects, transactions, and ideas shaping the Houston real estate market in 2016. These selections are not necessarily the largest or the first, but they signal important trends, promising opportunities, and noteworthy achievements.
LEGEND: TEXAN OF THE YEAR – John Goff, Crescent Real Estate Equities.
John Goff, chairman of Crescent Real Estate Equities of Fort Worth, has left a substantial mark on Texas real estate. In 2016 he launched an ambitious acquisition program through GP Investment Fund, aiming to deploy about $4 billion in purchases. That same year Crescent completed a new 20-story office tower in Dallas — the 530,000-square-foot McKinney & Olive building — which opened more than 90 percent leased.
Born in 1955 in Freeport on the Texas Gulf Coast and raised in nearby Lake Jackson, Goff’s rise began modestly. In the mid-1980s he invested $15,000 from a cashed-in 401(k) in a partnership with Richard Rainwater. That investment acquired a stake in Staubach Co., which proved highly profitable when Jones Lang LaSalle later purchased Staubach.
Through Crescent, Goff has executed several significant acquisitions, including the 4 million-square-foot Greenway Plaza in central Houston and an ownership position in The Woodlands. In August 2007, just before the financial crisis, Goff sold Crescent to Morgan Stanley for $6.5 billion. When the recession made the transaction look problematic on Morgan Stanley’s books, Goff was able to repurchase the assets two years later for less than half their previous price — a move viewed by many as shrewd and timely.
Beyond transactions, Goff has championed civic-minded projects. He played a leading role in creating Klyde Warren Park, an acclaimed urban deck park built over a sunken freeway in downtown Dallas. The park has become a popular public amenity and has spurred additional office and residential high-rise development along its edges. Inspired by Klyde Warren, other cities and transportation agencies — including Texas Department of Transportation planners — have explored similar “deck park” concepts, and several such projects are now under development nationwide, according to landscape designer James Burnett, who planned Klyde Warren Park.
In Houston, Goff has proposed 6 Houston Center, a 30-story office tower at Walker and Caroline streets that would follow Crescent’s earlier 5 Houston Center, completed in 2002. Given the current softness in the Houston office market, construction for 6 Houston Center is unlikely to begin for several years, but the project remains part of Crescent’s long-term pipeline.
For launching a major new investment fund, delivering a near-completely leased Dallas office tower at opening, and driving the visionary Klyde Warren Park that redefined urban reuse of freeway airspace, John Goff is recognized as Realty News Report’s Legends of Real Estate Award — Texan of the Year.
Jan. 6, 2017 Realty News Report Copyright 2017