Exclusive: Retail Brokers Launch New Spinoff

HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL

Several retail brokers from Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners' Houston office launched a new venture that hopes to capitalize on the Bayou City's strong retail demand.

Mark Sondock, Court Richardson, Andrew Bagnall and Ralph Tullier recently launched Ironbridge Realty Partners, Tullier told the Houston Business Journal. The company has also hired Ali Webre, formerly of Stream Realty, as an associate broker. Sondock was formerly managing director of Stream's retail division in Houston; Tullier was also formerly a managing director. 

Sondock and Tullier were at Stream Realty for six years before launching Ironbridge. 

"We wanted to do our own thing and control our own destiny," Tullier said. "We had about over 4 million square feet of project leasing over at Stream, and all that came with us."

The firm focuses exclusively on project leasing, tenant representation, property management and development within the retail market. It's currently working out of The Headquarters, a new co-working space near Tout Suite at 3302 Canal Street in the East End. The company is looking to grow gradually and is working on several development projects, Tullier said.

Stream Realty couldn't immediately be reached for comment. 

Houston's retail market has held steady despite uncertain conditions. On a national scale, 2017's retail market was defined in large part by the closures or downsizings of big-box retailers. And less than three months into 2018, New Jersey-based Toys 'R' Us announced its bankruptcy and its intent to sell or close all of its stores. The company occupies 673,000 square feet of space in Houston.

But the city's consistent population growth, coupled with the retail market's bullishness, could numb the effect of Toys 'R' Us dumping its retail space onto the market, the report states.

Houston's steady population growth has also kept the city's grocery-anchored developments at healthy lease levels. In 2017, Houston added roughly 2,700 residents per week; this correlates to the fact that 40 percent of the recently delivered retail developments are grocery-anchored, the report states.