Bob Rice, a well-known leasing name in the region, has been hired as regional vice president to lead the initiative. For the past five years, Rice was leasing director for Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp., which has an eight-million-sf portfolio pushing 100% occupancy.
"Bob's been a good friend for 20 years and will be a good friend of mine for 20 more years," says Jeff Turner, Duke's Dallas leader. "I wish him all the success at Seefried." Turner says there is no plan to backfill the position. The office's existing leasing trio will be carrying the ball, he says.
"I left on very good terms," Rice says. "I'm very appreciative of the opportunities that I had at Duke. Jeff and I were very fortunate to make a lot of deals." And, it's that dealmaking record, spanning 20 years, that undoubtedly has helped to lock down the Seefried job. Prior to Duke Realty, Rice was district manager for the San Francisco-based Rreef Funds, overseeing the then 3.4-million-sf industrial portfolio in the region.
With leasing as his forte, Rice tells GlobeSt.com that it's possible that some leasing might be pulled in house, but that decision has yet to be made. Seefried has been outsourcing its two developments--Northfield Distribution Center in Grapevine and RiverPark in Fort Worth--to the Robert Lynn Co. and CB Richard Ellis Inc.
Until now, Seefried's DFW efforts have been led by Brian Flaherty, who remains regional development director. Rice says the plan is to add to the three-member office as the portfolio grows in DFW and the road is opened to the other metros in the state.
Seefried's activity to date has been limited to the seven-building Northfield Distribution Center and RiverPark, 300 acres with 1.4 million sf in four buildings and a 300,000-sf spec structure under way. Another two million sf is on the drawing board for RiverPark.
Rice says there are some prospective tenants for the spec space that delivers in June, but no firm commitment as yet. "That's very high on my list of things to do," he says. "If I am doing my job right, I'll get that building leased up and break ground on more spec."
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