We lost a real estate legend in the passing of Trammell Crow on Wednesday night. He was 94. Trammell came from a humble background in Dallas, Texas. He served in the Navy in World War II and when he came back, he went into real estate as a property manager and developer. He invented the concept of the trade mart and speculative building for industrial and warehouse space. His business model was simp
le - he wanted partners, not employees and he built the largest real estate empire in the United States on that principle. The Trammell Crow Company and Trammell Crow Residential were to be "Evergreen," to live on into the future after he was gone and in some form, they will.
Trammell was a man of his word. In down swings, it was not uncommon for Trammel to work deals out with lenders just on the strength of his promise...and he always kept it. I had the honor of being one of his partners and will remember fondly, his gracious style and his incisive mind. (That pic is your humble Rumbler with Trammell in 1986.) When he hosted partner get-togethers at his house in Dallas, he and his wife, Margaret, were the consumate entertainers. They were married for 66 years and I know she will miss him dearly. There was a joke running around in the '80's about Trump gazing on the New York skyline, pointing at buildings and saying "Got it, got it, want it, got it..." Trammell could gaze on the Dallas skyline and the skylines and suburbs of countless cities and say the same thing.
This is a lesson this incoming (and outgoing) administration and Congress should heed well. This is the essence of capitalism...let's keep what's left of it. We have lost a giant.
le - he wanted partners, not employees and he built the largest real estate empire in the United States on that principle. The Trammell Crow Company and Trammell Crow Residential were to be "Evergreen," to live on into the future after he was gone and in some form, they will.Trammell was a man of his word. In down swings, it was not uncommon for Trammel to work deals out with lenders just on the strength of his promise...and he always kept it. I had the honor of being one of his partners and will remember fondly, his gracious style and his incisive mind. (That pic is your humble Rumbler with Trammell in 1986.) When he hosted partner get-togethers at his house in Dallas, he and his wife, Margaret, were the consumate entertainers. They were married for 66 years and I know she will miss him dearly. There was a joke running around in the '80's about Trump gazing on the New York skyline, pointing at buildings and saying "Got it, got it, want it, got it..." Trammell could gaze on the Dallas skyline and the skylines and suburbs of countless cities and say the same thing.
"We get more than one hundred qualified applicants for every newcomer we take on, and have been singled out as one of the best companies to work for in the United States. Yet this really isn't quite accurate, since as indicated these people won't be working for us, but rather for themselves with us. When a good person is in that position you don't have to watch him too carefully, since he will knock himself out to make certain the project succeeds. Believe me, it does remarkable things to a person when he's an actual owner of a property he's working on. Become an owner and things inprove. I guess that's just the way people are created."
-Trammell Crow
This is a lesson this incoming (and outgoing) administration and Congress should heed well. This is the essence of capitalism...let's keep what's left of it. We have lost a giant.
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