Life sciences project management expert joins Transwestern Development Co.
August 01, 2019
Houston – Transwestern Development Co. (TDC®) today announces Gayle Blakeley Farris has joined as Regional Partner – Life Sciences & Healthcare. Working with the TDC leadership team, Farris is leading the pursuit, conceptualization and execution of large-scale corporate and institutionally anchored life sciences and mixed-use tech transfer campus developments in Houston and other national tech cluster cities.
Farris, who has relocated to Houston from Boston, is a nationally recognized urban, mixed-use life sciences campus developer. For 25 years, she was CEO of Forest City Science and Technology Group based in Cambridge, a division of Forest City Enterprises, where she completed dozens of successful university-related real estate developments valued at more than $3 billion. She has experience building more than 3.5 million square feet of state-of-the-art facilities for technology industry leaders, Ivy League universities, medical institutions and hospital research labs in the Cambridge, Baltimore, and Philadelphia markets including MIT, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Her technology industry affiliations and long-term partnerships with founders, venture capitalists, and executives at industry, university, and research foundations have gained her deep respect. These relationships and the credibility and trust they represent will enhance the financial and market viability and leasing velocity of Transwestern’s new life sciences development projects.
The addition of Farris underscores Transwestern’s commitment to growing the firm’s national business in the healthcare and life sciences sectors as principals and development partners with investors and institutions and through customized, consultative services spanning master planning for mixed-use campuses, development, project management, property management, and leasing. In the last 12 months, the firm has added more than 10 team members to the healthcare and life sciences group and recently secured a multimarket healthcare system client.
Transwestern’s Houston healthcare team has executed more than 2,000 transactions during the past five years. The team's healthcare leasing and management portfolio includes 76 properties totaling more than 5.9 million square feet on behalf of some of the largest healthcare institutions in the country, including Memorial Hermann, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and HCP.
The national Healthcare Advisory Services team has grown to become the country’s largest dedicated healthcare real estate team, operating from 20 cities and including more than 175 members. The team provides a full range of services for hospitals, healthcare networks, physicians and investors.
ABOUT TRANSWESTERN DEVELOPMENT CO.
Transwestern Development Co. (TDC®) is a diversified business with expertise in all commercial property types. The firm executes projects through a variety of venture and contract structures and has been creating commercial landmarks for itself, its partners and valued customers throughout the U.S. since 1978. TDC operates as a principal, investing capital alongside its institutional equity partners in the development of speculative and build-to-suit projects, and as a fee developer for clients and user-owners. Part of the integrated Transwestern enterprise, the firm capitalizes on the market insight and operational expertise of its affiliates, which include a diversified real estate services firm with 34 U.S. offices and a real estate investment management company. For more information, visit transwesterndevelopment.com.
Media Contact:
Stefanie Lewis
713.272.1266
stefanie.lewis@transwestern.com
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