5-31-2012: TRC Builds Austin Team with New Brokers

The Retail Connection has attracted four more brokers to its fledgling Austin branch. Ryder Jeanes and Travis Robertson have left The Weitzman Group Inc., and Harry Scott Jr. and Will Volk left Oxford Commercial for the local office of Dallas commercial real estate firm The Retail Connection.

“We’re excited about the quality of team that we are building in The Retail Connection’s Austin office and are ahead of where we expected to be at this point,” said Lance Morris, president of the Austin office.

Morris, formerly president and director of brokerage for Weitzman, started the Austin branch of The Retail Connection in April with another Weitzman executive, Carla Neel. She had been the vice president of asset and property management with Cencor Realty Services, an affiliate of Weitzman.

The two said they couldn’t resist the opportunity to start a new branch of The Retail Connection and left Weitzman with some reluctance. Morris said he would build a team by recruiting across the retail brokerage spectrum. Jeanes, who will be senior vice president of brokerage at The Retail Connection, had been with Weitzman for 10 years. Jeanes ranked fourth among commercial retail heavy hitters in the Austin Business Journal 2012 Book of Lists. Some of his clients include ATCO Advisory, CapTex Development, H.E.B. Grocery Co., Capital City Partners and First State Bank. Robertson, who will be assistant vice president of brokerage, held the same title at Weitzman.

Robertson ranked 19th among commercial retail heavy hitters in the 2012 Book of Lists. Some of his clients are H.E.B. Grocery Co., CFT Developments, Capital City Partners, Zydeco Development, JPMorgan Chase and Resolute Fitness. Scott, who will be senior vice president of brokerage, previously oversaw the retail division at Oxford Commercial. He has negotiated more than $175 million in retail leases and been involved with the sale, development and redevelopment of two million square feet of retail space during his career.

Scott has worked with Dollar Tree, Bank of America Corp., Aaron Rents, GE Capital, Kimco Realty Corp. and Crow Holdings. Volk, who will be assistant vice president of brokerage, previously specialized in project leasing and retail tenant representation at Oxford Commercial. He has worked with both institutional and independent retail landlords. Some of his clients are Crow Holdings, Kimco Realty Corp., Thackeray Partners, Drexel Realty Partners, Kool Smiles pediatric dentistry, Alphagraphics, New Sound Hearing Aids, The North Face and Navy Federal Credit Union.