James Brooks Joins BH Properties as President

James R. Brooks has joined private investment firm BH Properties as president, GlobeSt.com ha learned exclusively. Brooks’ addition is the latest milestone in an ongoing effort to expand and scale the company and its portfolio. In the new position, Brooks will provide integral support in achieving the company’s growth goals and will oversee the day-to-day operations of the firm. Brooks role will also provide time for Steve Gozini, BH Properties’ founder and chairman, to focus on new acquisitions and management of the current portfolio.

“Scaling of BH Properties organization to further enable growth was a large part of the need. The company is regarded as a vertically integrated platform capable of acquiring and managing a geographically and product diverse portfolio of assets quickly and efficiently,” Brooks tells GlobeSt.com. “Its relationships within the real estate and finance community, lack of third-party investors, speed and creative problem solving in structuring and closing acquisitions is a hallmark of the organization. Ultimately my role is to add guidance to the day-to-day management of the organization while working in partnership with our senior management team enabling further bandwidth for growth and exploring new initiatives.”

BH Properties has been in expansion mode for the better part of this cycle. It currently has a portfolio of 90 assets totaling 10 million square feet in 17 states, along with regional offices in Arizona and Texas. The well-diversified portfolio is spread almost evenly between office, industrial and retail assets. For the firm, buying aggressively is nothing new. “The reality is that the BH Properties has continued to expand since its founding nearly 27 years ago largely through non-contingent, all cash transactions,” says Brooks. “Our acquisition team, led by Andy Van Tuyle, continues to look for creative avenues for growth, having recently closed on an office building in Houston’s energy corridor in as little as 5 days. This is not so much about the timing of an expansion, but more about positioning and scaling the organization to enable further growth.”

Brooks joins the firm from Topa Management Co., a subsidiary of Topa Equities, where he served as president. He brings 30 years of experience to the company and has a resume that includes Angelo, Gordon & Co., Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund, The Koll Co., Tishman Speyer Properties and Empire Commercial Real Estate. “After 30 years of principal-based operating, development and investment experience, I felt BH Properties offered a professionally stimulating and challenging opportunity where my skillset and that of our chairman Steve Gozini were more complimentary than repetitive,” he says. The company’s investment in its people and infrastructure, along with being privately held, were equally attractive, and its track record in creative deal making, its lack of third-party investors and its strong balance sheet were also compelling factors. The timing was right, and the opportunity was right.”

Brooks plans to focus on the company’s operations for the next six months, and make recommendations that will fuel growth. “Ideally a plan to implement those recommendations, on or before our next fiscal year beginning in 2020, may sound aggressive, but it’s achievable,” he says. “Concurrent with that effort, I will be looking for strategic opportunities to raise the level of awareness as to BH Properties ability, creative problem solving and speed to close transactions up to $100 million regardless of product type.”