Job Details

Macdonald & Company is pleased to be exclusively retained by a privately held industrial developer in Houston to find and appoint a VP of Investment/Development focused on sourcing and executing industrial ground up development.

Great growth opportunity to join a lean team of high performing, best in class developers in Houston, who have a significant track record and have capabilities to develop through their own capital sources or look at JV opportunities.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning & Acquisition

• Identify and evaluate land for potential speculative and build-to-suit industrial development in key Houston submarkets.
• Lead site due diligence, market research, financial feasibility analysis, and risk assessment for potential acquisitions.
• Work closely with capital partners, joint-venture partners, and internal leadership on acquisition strategies.

Entitlement & Approvals

• Manage the entitlement process, zoning, permitting, and regulatory approvals.
• Coordinate with architects, civil engineers, and consultants to prepare site plans, environmental studies, and other permitting documentation.
• Build strong relationships with municipal governments, local authorities, and community stakeholders.

Financial Modeling & Projections

• Build and maintain sophisticated financial models (pro forma, cash flow, IRR, sensitivity) for project-level and portfolio-level decisions.
• Lead underwriting for new projects, negotiating land purchase terms, and assessing capital structure.
• Present development business plans to senior leadership and potential equity / debt partners.

Pre-Construction & Design Coordination

• Oversee schematic design with architecture and engineering teams.
• Coordinate design aspects (site plans, building layouts, parking, utilities) to optimize cost, schedule, and tenant needs.
• Work with construction leadership (contractors, project managers) to ensure alignment between design intent and buildability.

Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Lead a small team (analysts, development associates) and mentor them through the front-end process.
• Collaborate with leasing, asset management, capital markets, and construction teams.
• Report to senior management (Managing Principal, Board) on project status, risks, milestones, and budget.

Market & Competitive Intelligence

• Monitor industrial real estate trends in Houston (speculative demand, build-to-suit, land scarcity, user types).
• Use insights to inform site selection, project sizing, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Represent Company externally at industry events, with brokers, landowners, public agencies, and joint-venture partners.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Finance, Business, Civil Engineering, or related field; MBA strongly preferred.
• 7+ years of industrial real estate development experience, with deep exposure to the front-end (land acquisition, entitlement, pre-construction).
• Success in bringing speculative and/or build-to-suit industrial projects from concept to shovel-ready.
• Strong financial modeling, underwriting, and project feasibility analysis; experience with pro formas, IRR, and sensitivities.
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and team leadership skills; ability to present to and influence senior executives, partners, and public officials.
• Deep understanding of the Houston industrial real estate market (submarkets, infrastructure, zoning, logistics).
• Comfort managing multiple deals simultaneously, with ability to lead cross-functional teams.
• Entrepreneurial orientation, ability to think long-term and balance risk-reward in land development.