"Ten years ago when we started Insite, our shared overhead and diversity of operations enabled us to establish an identity and thrive financially," Rand Stephens says in a prepared statement. "Now that both the brokerage and investment services sides of the business have a strong history of success it makes sense to segregate the two distinct businesses to be more competitive in capitalizing on market conditions." Stephens' partners in the new group are Josh LaRocca, Chris Torn and Scott Torn.
With the breakup, Insite has relocated to Fountainview Tower, a 175,000-sf, Galleria-area building it acquired last year while Blackstone has settled into 3050 Post Oak Blvd., also in the Galleria. Also leaving was Insite partner Trey Odom, who started Avera.
The regrouped Insite is being led by partners, Mike Handel, Kris Van Norman, Alan Ratterree and Mike Annino. Van Norman tells GlobeSt.com that Insite's going-forward plan includes owning and developing, both as a firm and with investment partners. He says the team is working on several build-to-suit projects while waiting for the day when demand is strong enough to warrant speculative projects.
The Insite partnership plans to buy three to five properties this year in a three- to five-year hold strategy. It also will continue to lease and manage assets for building owners. The firm is leasing and managing 7.4 million sf for third-party owners plus its stack of assets, which consists of two class C multifamily properties inside the Loop, 35 acres of developable land in Northwest Green Business Park and the Fountainview office building.
"The investment returns we have provided to our clients and our investors have been considerable and we are confident we can leverage our knowledge of the market to achieve greater success," Ratterree says of Insite's changed strategy.
Stephens says the newly formed Blackstone Partners will be the "Dell Computer" of the brokerage business as a provider of low-cost, high-quality services in office and industrial tenants along real estate analysis for site selection, project management, new construction or acquisition. He says the corporate services group historically handles 70 to 80 transactions per year. Last year, that added up to 1.4 million sf of deals. He says the staff could grow in the future, but for now the plan is to stay focused on the business at hand.
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