Planned Community Developers, Ltd. (“PCD”) is a Texas limited partnership, formed in 1997 by the executive officers of Sugarland Properties Incorporated (“SPI”), long-time developer of First Colony, for purposes of pursuing acquisition and development of planned communities, shopping centers, and suburban offices. On January 1, 1998 , PCD entered an agreement with SPI to manage the remaining development of the 9,700-acre First Colony in Sugar Land , Texas through substantial buildout, which is expected by 2008.
The six principals of PCD have an average tenure of 20 years with SPI, with each having considerable prior experience in their respective areas of development, construction, finance, sales/leasing and real estate law. The partners have complimentary skills and talents combining for a very effective development team which successfully guided First Colony through Houston 's real estate depression of the mid-1980's. Taking valuable lessons from the downturn, this group is adept at adjusting to changing market conditions to make decisions to build, hold or sell as needed to maximize asset values.
Over the past ten years, this team has developed and sold over 6,000 residential lots with attendant amenities and hundreds of acres of both commercial and industrial sites. This developer has leased, built, managed and sold over 2.0 million square feet of retail shopping centers (including three power centers and two neighborhood centers) and nearly 500,000 square feet of industrial and office space. PCD's projects are characterized by innovative architectural designs, highest quality construction and materials and maximum positive impacts to the community in which they are built.
PCD's experience also includes the cutting-edge, mixed-use $300 million town center project known as Sugar Land Town Square . Town Square includes a hotel/conference center, City Hall, mid-rise and high-rise condominiums, 450,000 square feet of office space and 235,000 square feet of main street retail. PCD recently completed and sold the 160,000-square-foot Kingwood Commons Shopping Center at the front door of Kingwood, another major planned community in Houston . In addition, PCD has recently delivered and sold the first phase of a 932 lot development called River's Edge in Richmond , Texas . PCD also recently acquired the 190-acre Lake Pointe property in Sugar Land for a $250,000 Million mixed-use project.
MANAGEMENT BIOGRAPHIES
Les A. Newton is President of Planned Community Developers, Ltd. Mr. Newton has been with the firm since 1984 and currently oversees all sales, marketing and development functions performed by PCD's staff of 20. Mr. Newton's development activities during his tenure have included substantial residential land development, and construction and operation of regional and neighborhood shopping centers, suburban office and mixed-use projects. Prior to entering real estate, Mr. Newton was employed by Price Waterhouse in Houston , Texas . He graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979 with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting, and became as a Certified Public Accountant later that year. Mr. Newton serves on a number of business, community and civic boards, and currently is Vice Chairman of the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council.
Stephen J. Ewbank is Executive Vice President of PCD. Mr. Ewbank has been with the company since 1984 and currently oversees retail and mixed-use leasing and sales, as well as the marketing and development activities. Mr. Ewbank has directed management of the exclusive Sweetwater Country Club, and the daily fee First Colony Golf Course. Mr. Ewbank joined the team after spending approximately six years as a Certified Public Accountant with Price Waterhouse in Houston . He was co-founder and the first President of the Exchange Club of Sugar Land, and has been voted Fort Bend County Businessman of the Year by the Sugar Land Rotary Club. Mr. Ewbank received the President's Award from the Greater Fort Bend County Chamber of Commerce and was voted Marketing Director of the Year for a Developer from the Greater Houston Builder's Association.
Glenn Howard is a Senior Vice President of PCD with overall responsibility for residential operations. Glenn joined the company in 1987 and currently oversees all aspects of residential development. Prior to joining PCD/SPI, Glenn held various positions with Friendswood Development Company as Marketing Manager for Commercial Properties (office and retail leasing), Commercial Projects (commercial land sales) and Residential Projects (residential community development). At that time, Friendswood was Exxon's real estate development subsidiary with a development portfolio of over 40,000 acres. His education includes a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration and Finance with Honors from Salem State College and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Babson College . Military history includes three years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with a final rank of First Lieutenant. Glenn is the past president of the Sales and Marketing Council and a former member of the Executive Committee for the Greater Houston Builders Association.
Carl P. Favre is the Senior Vice President/General Counsel of PCD, and has been with the company since 1987. Favre coordinates and oversees all developer legal functions for PCD which includes the management of several different outside legal firms used for various purposes. He is directly involved in negotiating and documenting acquisitions, commercial and industrial tract sales, residential development and lot sales, and the development of retail and shopping center projects. From 1982 to 1987, he was employed as a staff attorney for Friendswood Development Company (a former subsidiary of Exxon Corporation), where he provided a wide range of legal services to Friendswood and to Exxon's Land Management Department. From 1980 to 1982, Favre was one of sixteen attorneys with Exxon's Litigation Department in New Orleans that handled Exxon Co. USA's lawsuits for the eastern half of the United States . Favre graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1973 (top 15% of his class), and received his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas in January, 1980 (Rank 17 of 140). He is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the fields of Residential and Commercial Real Estate Law, and is a member of The College of the State Bar of Texas. He serves on a number of legal and community associations, including former Chairman of the Real Estate Section of the Houston Bar Association and the Association of Real Estate Developer Attorneys for the Houston area.
Steven H. Mercadal is Vice President of Construction for PCD, and has been with the firm since 1990. During his tenure with the team, Mr. Mercadal has supervised the construction of approximately 2.0 million square feet of retail space, and over 500,000 square feet of office and industrial buildings. Additionally, he has overseen development of major infrastructure supporting First Colony's mixed-use project. Prior to joining PCD, Mr. Mercadal was a Vice President and an owner of H. A. Lott, Inc., a general contracting company with $150 million in annual revenues. During his 10-year tenure with Lott, Mr. Mercadal directed the construction of a variety of high-rise commercial projects, with an aggregate contract value in excess of $185 million. Mr. Mercadal graduated with honors from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting. He has also served on the Board of the Fort Bend YMCA and the First Colony Community Services Association.
Robert D. Janssen, Jr . is Senior Vice President of PCD with responsibility for commercial land sales, ground leases and office leasing. Since joining the company in 1980, Janssen has been involved in development transactions representing more than 2,000 acres and 4,000,000 square feet. From 1980 to 1985, Janssen was responsible for land sales and marketing within the Sugar Land Business Park . During this period, Janssen worked with the Greater Fort Bend Economic Council to successfully implement value added tax abatement which has significantly increased land sales and company relocations to First Colony and Fort Bend County over the past 20 years. Janssen is a past president of the Sugar Land Rotary Club, Vice Chairman of the Fort Bend Baptist Academy Board of Trustees, and has served on many civic organization committees.