Robert Wheless, previously Panattoni's local senior development manager, will oversee the Greater Houston area and will manage all market research, planning, site selection, land acquisitions and dispositions, product development, project budget, marketing plans and leasing and investment sales. Local development responsibilities were being handled by Joel DeSpain, whose territory included Austin and San Antonio.

"There's so much work and so much opportunity here," Wheless tells GlobeSt.com, "and Opus wanted to be able to handle more work and one person can only handle so much. We have expectations of a lot of growth in the Houston area, and Joel is busy in Austin and San Antonio. I am here to pick up the ball where Joel had established a strong foothold and see these projects through to fruition."

Wheless has more than 30 years of real estate experience in planning, leasing and development of industrial and commercial office product in the Central California and Texas markets. He spent 12 years with Panattoni reporting to Jon Napper in the company's Dallas office. Napper was not available by publication time to comment on Wheless' departure.