Trammell Crow Company (TCC) is one of the largest diversified commercial real estate services companies in the United States. From construction to brokerage, TCC handles it all – and it handles it all in-house.
Founded in 1948 as an industrial development company, Dallas-based TCC has used creativity and synergy to expand its influence throughout the United States and into Canada. After the success of the 451,000-square-foot Glendale Industry Center in Sparks, developed by the Bay Area office of TCC, Nevada seemed a natural place to establish a presence. The Reno/Sparks office opened in 1983, and TCC-Nevada was born. Sixteen years and 5 million square feet later, TCC-Nevada created a satellite office in Las Vegas.
TCC-Nevada’s full-service offerings include four revenue lines: property management, brokerage, development and general construction. Brokerage for TCC encompasses project leasing and tenant representation (including investment sales, retail, office and industrial). Development specialties include higher education, healthcare and mixed-use. Being a master of all trades provides an atmosphere of success for TCC. “With all these lines,” said Par Tolles, CCIM, principal/area director of TCC-Nevada, “each breeds business within other lines. And if one line is slow, the others might be busy. This helps us meet revenue expectations.” Similarly, employees are encouraged to pursue expertise in the different lines.
Tolles attributes TCC’s success (over $692 million revenue reported last year) to its team attitude. “We really want each other to succeed,” he said of the approximately 25 TCC-Nevada employees. “We want everyone to be happy, and we’re committed to seeing them be what they want to be in business.” If a broker wants to learn construction, Tolles tries to accommodate that wish. “Brokers who only know brokerage aren’t always good brokers,” he said. “We all need to understand the entire business.”
The opportunity to learn more of the business is exactly what brought Tolles to Reno in 1994. He was working as a broker in the Bay Area but wanted to learn more about the big picture of commercial real estate. TCC-Nevada’s four-person office offered him that opportunity.
The team concept is central to everything TCC-Nevada does. Employees are chosen as much for how they fit in with the team as on their education and experience. And the fact that the company is made up of employee-team members rather than contractors is a testament to the company’s commitment. Health benefits, 401k, educational opportunities – all are part of the TCC-Nevada package. No one is expected to go it alone.
Tolles sees the future of TCC-Nevada as a continuation of all that is going right within the company. He wants to increase the Reno office revenues, but not necessarily the staff, as the team becomes more efficient. He wants to see the satellite office in Las Vegas grow into a significant player in the booming Southern Nevada commercial real estate market.
“We are the largest developer in the country,” he said of TCC, “the largest property manager in the country and among the top 10 brokerage houses. We bring a lot of expertise to Vegas. We can creatively develop good products that have not been seen there before.” That confidence has led to TCC-Nevada’s completion of a 42,000-square-foot project done entirely on spec – and the subsequent lease of that space to a single user (Walker Furniture).
“It may sound like a cliché, but I don’t want us to be the biggest,” Tolles said. “I want us to be the best – with the best employees.”