HOUSTON-DCT Industrial Trust Inc. has established a local office and has tapped Justin Bennett to head up its Houston and San Antonio operations, along with two additional property management professionals.

The Denver-based REIT owns 40 buildings in Houston totaling 2.9 million square feet and 15 buildings in San Antonio totaling 1.3 million square feet. It has had a presence in these markets for several years, but has not had a team on the ground, according to Bennett, who joins DCT Industrial Trust as vice president and regional market representative.

Bennett has eight years of real estate experience including his most recent role as senior development manager in Panattoni Development Co.’s local office where he was responsible for a 2.7 million-square-foot portfolio of Class A properties across two major logistics markets. He was also involved in the acquisition, leasing and disposition of real property and industrial assets.

“Given the size of our portfolio, our appetite to grow in the market and our desire to better serve our customers, it was logical to open an office here,” Bennett tells GlobeSt. “I decided to join DCT because it’s a REIT with a strong balance sheet, and the company views Houston as a growth market. I wanted to be on a team that was sustainable going forward and had the ability to grow the portfolio here in Houston.”

The REIT will continue to call upon Boyd Commercial, Vantex Commercial Property Group LLC and NAI/Houston to handle leasing for the Houston and San Antonio portfolio, Bennett notes. However, it has taken its Houston and San Antonio property management in-house, a job previously handled by Vantex Commercial, Bennett says.

The REIT has hired Bill Tucker as a vice president and regional director of property management. Tucker joins the firm from Means Knaus Partners L.P.

It also brought on Sequoya Nelson as a senior property manager. In this role, she is responsible for DCT Industrial's property management activities in the Houston market including property operations and customer relations.

Nelson joins DCT Industrial with nine years of real estate experience. Over the past four years, she served as senior manager and department head for GSL Welcome Group LLC where she was responsible for over 85 industrial properties totaling over four million square feet.

Bennett says he will focus on servicing DCT Industrial’s existing customers and stabilizing the firm’s Houston and San Antonio portfolio, which is 92% leased. He also will seek out acquisition and development opportunities, as well as build-to-suit opportunities.

“DCT is making a big push into development and recently made a huge investment in personnel,” Bennett adds, pointing out that the REIT recently hired industry veteran Jeff Phelan as president of president of development and managing director of its Southern California group. “This was a driving factor in my decision to join DCT because it is establishing a solid platform for both development and acquisitions.”

DCT Industrial’s new office is located within the Beltway 8 Business Park at 10100 West Sam Houston Parkway S.