Close Up With André Granello

Cresa managing partner André Granello is handling the most interesting transaction of his career, marketing the 200-acre, 900k SF BAE site in Sealy. (Other transactions, he likes you too... just not in that way.) We got a glimpse into the man behind the deal.

André tells us his parents were in real estate, and he did summer internships with his stepfather, an office leasing rep. It seemed natural to follow in their footsteps, and he joined NAI Houston (where he felt he could be entrepreneurial and not get lost in the crowd) post-college. In January 2008, he left to form Gibson & Granello with Barry Gibson. It seemed like the perfect timing: The market was hot and neither of them had kids. But two months later he learned his wife was expecting twins—she gave birth in October and Lehman collapsed in November, setting them up for a rough couple of years. (Twin babies have no sympathy for financial crises.)

Here’s Andre with his twins; they’re five but already getting into taekwondo, gymnastics, and piano, making it difficult for Daddy to keep up. In 2011, André joined Cresa to bring new energy to the firm. He believes its focus on transferring knowledge to the next generation will put it in good straits—he thinks the next five to 10 years will see some firms succeed and some flounder based on how well the established pros pass the baton onto the young guys. (Between the '80s gap and the individual nature of the industry, he sees quite a division between the generations.) André’s goal is to make Cresa a dominant force in Houston—he says they’ve made great strides in the past two years, but admits they have work still to do.

Major deals like the BAE transaction will help—André tells us his team reintroduced the tract to the market on May 5. He’s been impressed at the level of manufacturer demand, and they’ve been approached with a number of 100k SF to 200k SF lease requests. But the site needs to close as one disposition. André tells us the ideal buyer will be willing to close a few leases shortly after purchasing but be patient to redevelop the rest. He’s seriously loving the process, telling us it’s fascinating to be at the facility, and its unique operations and intensity make other deals look boring. (That's what our high school sweetheart said about us after she met the people at college.)