Homegrown real estate firm reflects on 20 years

NAI Partners compiled an oral history of the firm to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. NAI Partners compiled an oral history of the firm to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Homegrown real estate firm reflects on 20 years 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Houston-based real estate brokerage NAI Partners compiled an oral history of the firm that has seen big changes in the market for commercial space in the Bayou City.

Three young real estate professionals in Houston banded together to help found what became one of the oldest independently owned commercial real estate firmed founded and headquartered in Houston. During a two hour discussion, they retraced that history.

When it started, said managing partner Jon Silberman, brokers could differentiate themselves simply by knowing the location of every available space.

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"Back when we launched our careers, it was all about building your database, and it took a lot of legwork," said Dan Boyles, another partner. "Now you can get any piece of information you need with a keystroke. Not having to physically canvass buildings has certainly sped up the pursuit of business."

"The broker that was going to outwork the competition by digging deeper to find the information now has a ton of competition because everyone has access to the same data," said John Ferruzzo, another partner.

The three men were fresh out of college when they worked in Houston real estate, bouncing through various roles until they converged under the effort of veteran Houston real estate brokers Drew Lewis and Brad Marnitz to form Partners Commercial Realty in 1997, which quickly joined the NAI Global network.

The partners credited their survival through the 2008 recession to their decisions not to cut as much staff as competitors had cut, even as they wondered if they could ever close another deal again and spent years in "survival mode." Since then, the firm expanded to Austin and San Antonio, and the three founding partners have stayed around.

"You can't put a price on getting to work with colleagues you've known for decades and who you get along with extremely well," Boyles said.