As Dallas-Fort Worth began to grow as a major crossroads location in the south-central United States, several visionaries recognized the area’s potential. Taking advantage of the region’s youth and aggressive personalities, they forged alliances with each other to strengthen the business core and promote the area’s advantage for manufacturing, distribution, and service industries. Favorable state laws encouraged national financial institutions, insurance firms, banks, and oil and gas companies to locate their operations in North Texas. Their efforts created the nucleus of today’s highly respected and successful real estate community. This presentation of the Real Estate Family Tree attempts to illustrate the growth of the profession in Dallas-Fort Worth, and the incredible influence of three industry pioneers: Henry S. Miller, Hank Dickerson, and Trammell Crow.
Henry S. Miller Co. Hank Dickerson & Co. Trammell Crow Co.
DESCENDANTS OF HENRY S. MILLER CO.
1914: Henry S. Miller Sr. joins the Dallas firm of Davidson–Davis & Co., then moves to Flippen-Prather Realty.
1919: After a short time with Flippen-Prather Realty, he launches Henry S. Miller Co.
1946: Henry S. Miller Jr. returns from World War II and joins Henry S. Miller Co. as a salesman.
1952: H. Grady Jordan leaves Henry S. Miller Co. to go to work for Bolanz & Miller Commercial Realtors.
1956: Four years later, he launches his own company, Grady Jordan & Co. Realtors.
1959: Vance Miller, son of Henry S. Miller Jr., joins Henry S. Miller Co.
1964: A. Alexander Bul joins Henry S. Miller Co. and goes on to become president and president-emeritus of Henry S. Miller Commercial.
1965: David Donosky joins Henry S. Miller Co. beginning a career that would span nearly 40 years with the firm.
1970: Roger Staubach joins Henry S. Miller Insurance Services.
1971: Robert Grunnah joins Henry S. Miller Co.
1972: Wayne Swearingen, David Arnold, and Gordon Davis leave Henry S. Miller Co. to form The Swearingen Co.
1974: Joe Foster and Gene Sanger launch Joe Foster Co.
1975: Terry Darrow leaves Henry S. Miller Co. to join Joe Foster Co.
1976: Bill Lawley leaves Huie Properties to launch and head a Swearingen affiliate, Swearingen Management Co.
1978: Candace Rubin joins Henry S. Miller Co., then leaves four years later to establish Candace Rubin Real Estate.
1978: Chris Teesdale joins The Swearingen Co.; he becomes a partner in 1982.
1978: Mike McNeff and Tom Palmer leave Henry S. Miller Co. to form McNeff-Palmer Properties.
1978: Roger Staubach and Robert Holloway form Holloway/Staubach, a property development firm.
1979: The brokerage arm of Joe Foster Co. becomes Foster-Darrow.
1980: Baker Montgomery leaves Henry S. Miller Co. and joins Centre Development.
1981: Greg Cannon joins Foster-Darrow; he leaves in 1990 for Davidson/Conine.
1981: Herb Jackson leaves Swearingen Co. to launch Jackson & Cooksey with former Dallas County planner Jim Cooksey.
1981: Jerry Fults leaves The Swearingen Co. and forms The Fults Co.; it later merges with Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Kennedy-Wilson International Inc.
1981: Jim Lake Jr. joins The Swearingen Co.
1982: Roger Staubach buys out Holloway and rebrands the firm as The Staubach Co.
1982: A. Alexander Bul leaves Henry S. Miller Co. to join the University of Texas at Arlington, where he assists in developing the school’s real estate department.
1982: Susan Arledge leaves Henry S. Miller Co. to join The Staubach Co.
1983: Tim McNamara leaves to form Tim McNamara & Assoc., renamed Cantex Realities Inc. in 1989.
1983: David Dunning and Sam Kartalis leave Henry S. Miller Co. and form Dunning Development, affiliated with First Newport Realty.
1983: Kenneth Hughes leaves to start Kenneth H. Hughes Interests, Hughes Development LP, and UC Urban.
1983: Mike Hopkins and Steve Shafer leave Henry S. Miller Co. and form Hopkins–Shafer.
1983: Robert Grunnah and Sam Swanson form Grunnah/Swanson Real Property Com.
1984: Grubb & Ellis buys Henry S. Miller Co. The company is known as Henry S. Miller Co./Grubb & Ellis until 1991.
1984: John Evans, Al Birmingham, and Steve Williamson leave to form Evans, Birmingham & Williamson.
1984: Terry Darrow and Al Hildreth launch Darrow-Hildreth.
1985: Clifford Fischer leaves The Fults Co. and launches Fischer & Co.
1985: Darrell Hurmis joins Grunnah/Swanson.
1985: Mickey Ashmore joins Hopkins-Shafer. In 1992, he leaves to become president and CEO of United Commercial Realty.
1985: Tom and Phil Brosseau leave The Swearingen Co. and affiliate with Boston-based Colliers to form Colliers-Brosseau.
1986: Don Frey leaves Henry S. Miller and forms the Frey Young Group with Westy Young.
1986: David Dunning forms Dunning Development Co.
1986: Paul Reitz, Jerry Bruner, and Jerry Alexander leave Henry S. Miller to start a company that goes on to merge with Huff, Brous, McDowell & Montesi, which later morphs into NAI/Stoneleigh Huff Brous McDowell Inc.
1987: Firman Cook, who ran the industrial division of Henry S. Miller for years, leaves to found The Firman Cook Co. Realtors.
1987: Robert Grunnah teams with John Cole to form Grunnah/Cole Real Property Co. and NewMarket Group SW.
1988: John Evans and Steve Williamson join forces with Hank Dickerson & Co.s’ Clay Smith to form Cornerstone Commercial Real Estate. Al Birmingham forms Birmingham Properties.
1989: Herb Weitzman leaves Henry S. Miller Co. to form The Weitzman Group and Cencor Realty Service.
1989: John Amend leaves The Staubach Co. to launch The Amend Group.
1989: Taylor Boyd, after starting at Henry S. Miller Co., leaves Frey Young Group and forms Provident Capital with Ross Perot Jr.
1990: Wayne Swearingen forms Barclay Commercial and leaves The Swearingen Co., which is rebranded as Swearingen Realty Group.
1990: Susan Arledge leaves The Staubach Co. to join Swearingen Realty Group. Three years later, she establishes her own firm, Arledge Partners Real Estate Group.
1991: Jim Lake Jr. and B.H. “Mike” Morgan Jr. co-found Jim Lake Inc. Realtors.
1991: Mike Hopkins buys out Steve Shafer to form Hopkins Commercial. Steve Shafer launches Shafer Properties Inc.
1991: Vance Miller buys back Henry S. Miller Co.’s residential division and gains limited use of the company’s name for commercial transactions. He becomes CEO.
1992: Swearingen Management Co. is sold to Koll Development Co.
1993: Bill Lawley and Chris Teesdale sell their interests in Swearingen Co. to form Wilcox Realty, the brokerage arm of Wilcox’s Management Group.
1994: John Evans forms John T. Evans Real Estate.
1994: The Millers announce the merger of Henry S. Miller Co., with Newmarket Group Southwest Inc. and Kelley, Lundeen & Crawford. Sam Kartalis, Robert Grunnah, and Darrell Hurmis, principals in Newmarket Group SW and Grunnah Cole Real Property Co., join the firm. Those coming from Kelley, Lundeen & Crawford include Michelle Hudson and Janice Peters. John Crawford, who had previously worked at Henry S. Miller in the 1970s and 1980s, forms Crawford & Co. Real Estate Services.
1995: Bill Cawley buys Wilcox Realty Group; Chris Teesdale leaves to join The Staubach Co., and later rejoins Swearingen Realty Group.
1996: Tom Brosseau rejoins Swearingen Realty Group.
1997: David Watson and Syd Hurley leave Cencor Realty Services, an affiliate of The Weitzman Group, to launch Direct Development.
1997: Steve Williamson joins Transwestern Commercial Services.
1998: The Stoneleigh Group merges with Fort Worth-based Huff Brous McDowell, creating NAI/Stoneleigh Huff Brous McDowell.
2000: Mike Geisler and Ken Reimer, formerly with The Weitzman Group, launch Venture Commercial Real Estate.
2000: Taylor Boyd partners with Leon Backes at Provident Realty Advisors.
2001: Dan Arnold and David Arnold leave Swearingen Realty Group LLC to join Henry S. Miller Commercial.
2001: Greg Cannon joins Transwestern Commercial Services.
2001: Henry S. Miller Realtors, the residential arm of Henry S. Miller Co., is sold to a New Jersey affiliate of Coldwell Banker Residential Co.
2004: Steve Lieberman, a Miller veteran who had joined The Weitzman Group, leaves to form The Retail Connection with former Zale Corp. executive Alan Shor.
2004: Phil Brosseau joins Realty America Group.
2005: Michelle Hudson and Janice Peters leave Henry S. Miller to open a Dallas office for Burr & Temkin. Three years later, they buy out their partners and rebrand as Hudson Peters Commercial.
2005: Chris Teesdale leaves Swearingen to join Colliers International.
2005: NAI/Stoneleigh Huff Brous McDowell is acquired by Transwestern Commercial Services, and NAI/Stoneleigh in Dallas dissolves. The Fort Worth broker team of NAI/Stoneleigh eschews the merger with Transwestern and splits into two companies led by founding partners Jack Huff and Sam Brous. Huff forms NAI Huff partners. Brous, along with former NAI/Stoneleigh principal Mack House, form The Westover Group.
2007: Syd Hurley leaves Direct Development to form Vista Property Co.
2008: The Staubach Co. is acquired by Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Staubach Retail Services remains independent.
2008: Terry Darrow joins Jones Lang LaSalle to lead the firm’s DFW industrial practice.
2009: Staubach Retail Services, owned and managed by Chris McGuire, changes its name to SRS Real Estate Partners.
2011: NAI Huff Partners merges with Transwestern.
2012: Wayne Swearingen joins Glacier Commercial Realty LP as principal.
2013: Arledge Partners Real Estate Group becomes Cresa Dallas. Susan Arledge is named managing principal.
2013: Greg Miller, son of Vance Miller, is named president and CEO of Henry S. Miller Cos.
DESCENDANTS OF HANK DICKERSON & CO.
1959: Henry H. Dickerson launches Hank Dickerson & Co.
1962: Russell M. Chaney joins Hank Dickerson & Co.
1971: Jamie Hanson joins Hank Dickerson & Co.
1976: Sherwood Blount leaves Hank Dickerson & Co. and launches Parkway Realty.
1979: Charlie Adams leaves Hank Dickerson & Co. and forms Gwin-Adams and Associates with Terry Gwin.
1981: Charlie Adams forms Adams Co.
1981: Kent Hopes leaves Hank Dickerson and joins Hope Realty.
1981: Terry Gwin forms Terry Gwin and Associates.
1984: Bob Kaminski leaves Hank Dickerson & Co. to join Lincoln Property Co. He then goes on to launch his own real estate and corporate investment company, Kaminski Interests.
1985: Charlie Adams launches The Stratford Group.
1987: Russell M. Chaney leaves Hank Dickerson to start Russell Chaney & Co.
1989: After four years at Hank Dickerson & Co., Clay Smith leaves to form Cornerstone Commercial, then, in 2001, joins Staubach Retail Services.
1991: Webber Beall, with Hank Dickerson & Co. for nine years, leaves to join Lincoln Property Co.
1994: Jamie Hanson launches James E. Hanson Inc.
1995: Hammond Heath, who worked for Hank Dickerson & Co. in the 1970s, co-founds Phoenix Capital Partners Ltd., a real estate investment fund with Stephen Mastor.
1995: James Buis starts Pacific Retail Trust with two other partners, after leaving Hank Dickerson & Co. PRT was purchased in 1999 by Regency Centers.
1995: Terry Gwin joins Phoenix Capital Partners Ltd., later, HSM Equity Partners. He then forms Highland Capital Real Estate Advisory before launching Royalton Real Estate Captial LLC.
1996: John Dickerson takes the reins of the company his father founded, and is named president.
DESCENDANTS OF TRAMMELL CROW CO.
1948: Trammell Crow founds Trammell Crow Co.
1965: Lincoln Property Co. is founded as a partnership between Trammell Crow and Mack Pogue.
1974: Lucy Crow joins her father’s company as a retail leasing agent in Houston; her brother Harlan Crow joins the firm’s Houston industrial group.
1974: Marc Myers and Henry Billingsley join Trammell Crow Co.
1975: Gillis Thomas, who in 1949 became Trammell Crow’s first operating partner, starts Gillis Thomas Co.
1976: Lucy Crow goes to work for the Trammell Crow-owned Dallas Market Center Co.
1977: Mac Progue buys out Crow’s share of Lincoln Property Co.
1978: Harlan Crow begins working for Trammell Crow Co. in Dallas.
1978: Lucy Crow and Henry Billingsley marry; Billingsley Co. is launched.
1979: William Duval joins Lincoln Property Co. as a partner.
1980: J.D. Kelley and Howard Lundeen form Kelley-Lundeen Inc.
1980: Jeff Swope leaves Trammell Crow Co. and joins Centre Development.
1980: Lucy Billingsley becomes a partner in Billingsley Co.
1981: Harry B. Lucas, who began his career with Trammell Crow Co. and Vantage Cos., buys Vantage Realty from Vantage Properties. The company is renamed Harry B. Lucas Co. in 1995.
1986: Harlan Crow becomes president of Wyndham Hotel Co. Two years later, he becomes chairman and CEO of Crow Holdings.
1989: Vantage splits up and the brokerage group becomes Bradford Cos.
1990: John Crawford joins J.D. Kelley and Howard Lundeen to form Kelley, Lundeen & Crawford.
1991: Holt Lunsford leaves Trammell Crow Co, and starts The Holt Cos., later rebranded as Holt Lunsford Commercial.
1991: Jeff Swope leaves Centre Development and forms Champion Partners.
1994: John Crawford leaves Kelley Lundeen & Crawford to re-start Crawford & Co. Real Estate Services. Seven years later, he becomes president of Downtown Dallas Inc.
1994: John Walsh III leaves Trammell Crow Co. and launches TIG Realty Services.
1994: Marc Myers leaves to establish Myers & Crow Ltd./Myers, Crow, & Saviers Ltd.
1996: Brokers Lee Belland and Mike McVean leave Trammell Crow Co. to launch Stream Realty Partners.
2000: Kevin Santaularia buys Bradford Cos. from its parent, Vantage Cos.
2002: Former Trammell Crow Co. brokers Joel Pustmueller and T.D. Briggs found Peloton Real Estate Partners.
2006: Brant Bernet and Martin Peck leave Trammell Crow Co. to launch Rackhouse, a data center real estate firm later acquired by Lincoln Property Co.
2006: King White and his site selection team leave Trammell Crow Co. to launch Site Selection Group.
2006: Trammell Crow Co. agrees to be acquired by CB Richard Ellis Inc. in a transaction valued at $2.2 billion.
2007: When the deal closes in January, the company’s development arm becomes a subsidiary of CBRE, retaining both its Trammell Crow Co. name and its Dallas headquarters. Brokerage operations are folded into CBRE.
