Hines, the real estate development firm that began in Houston 65 years ago, enters a new era as Laura Hines-Pierce joins her father, Jeffrey Hines, as the firm’s new co-CEO.
Hines has nearly $84 billion in assets and nearly 1,500 buildings in 255 cities in 27 countries.
Hines-Pierce is 38 and pregnant with her second child, due in April. In addition to being a third generation Hines, she brings a different perspective to the C-Suite.
“I’m glad that we’re able to take a moment to show that someone in leadership can take the time to prioritize her family at the same time she’s prioritizing her career at this important milestone,” Hines-Pierce said of the upcoming birth of her daughter in April, followed by four months of maternity leave.
The timing of her promotion was intentional for Hines, whose Houston workforce of 848 is nearly 50 percent female. Some 40 percent of its employees are under the age of 35, Hines-Pierce said. Hines’ global workforce of 4,800 is 40 percent female.
“Laura is going to do everything she can to move the industry in that direction,” Jeffrey Hines said. “She’ll be a great example people can look to.”
Three generations
Jeffrey Hines became president of Hines in 1990, while his father, company founder Gerald D. Hines, continued to work as chairman and CEO. Gerald Hines, who worked well into his 90s, died in August 2020, just days after turning 95.
Gerald Hines came to Houston in the 1940s, with a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a job with American Blower Corp. He later became a partner at Texas Engineering, learning commercial/industrial buildings from the inside out before starting his own firm, Gerald D. Hines Interests, in 1957.
Jeffrey Hines, 66, has spent the past three decades expanding his father’s company globally, and said that sharing the CEO title with his daughter is more about acknowledging the role she’s played for a while — not a sign he’s planning his own retirement.
“When my dad brought me in, the combination of his experience and me pushing us in new directions has led to a pretty good 30 years we’ve had as a firm” Jeffrey Hines said. “I’m convinced Laura and I are a 1+1=3 solution.”
Hines-Pierce’s first assignment was the River Point development in Chicago, of which she was project manager. She worked in other capacities at the firm and in 2020 joined her father on the executive team, where she helped build an investment management platform and three flagship funds with several billion dollars.
Two of Hines-Pierce’s siblings, Adam and Matthew Hines, also work at the company. Adam Hines works in capital markets while Matthew Hines works on a development team in the west region.
Jeffrey Hines and his daughter, Laura Hines-Pierce, at Texas Tower in downtown Houston
Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Setting the bar high
Houston’s downtown skyline can thank Hines for its tallest, most iconic and most recent buildings — more than 30 in total, including One Shell Plaza, Pennzoil Place, TC Energy Center (formerly Bank of America Center) and the new Texas Tower, where Hines is consolidating its Houston offices.
As Gerald Hines built his business, he focused on innovation, not just interesting building, but the best building techniques, talented staff and energy efficiency. When the U.S. Green Building Council developed the LEED standards, it was with the help of Gerald Hines and his staff, his son said.
In the early 1990s, Hines created its own guidelines for indoor air quality, both predating and influencing rules that later came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Style was important, and Hines recognized that a better looking building from a well-known architect was good business: not only would it have more cachet, but the firm could charge more rent, too.
Larry Burns, principal of Kendall/Heaton Associates, a firm that’s been architect of record for more than 70 Hines projects, said that he expects that this third generation of the Hines family will carry on the tradition set by its founder.
Burns noted that Gerald Hines had high standards for everything and was interested in finding new, innovative ways to get things done.
One involves the kind of work his firm does, which is the technical side of building drawings and construction, vs. the more creative side of architecture and design.
Gerald Hines decided to pair the two — to have a creative architect design the building, while asking an “architect of record” to handle the technical drawings and the details involved in executing construction. Hines’ plan became a standard way for many developers to do business, Burns said.
And when it came to energy efficiency, demanding better HVAC systems and other building materials was something that ultimately benefited every builder and developer and the world as a whole.
One more cheer
When Lorraine Hariton, president and CEO of the 60-year-old gender equality organization Catalyst, heard that Hines had promoted a young woman to a co-CEO role, she was ecstatic.
“I think it’s a triumph,” Hariton said. “This really makes me reflect on how the rules have changed for women in the workplace. She’s been groomed for the top job, and that wasn’t always the case even in family businesses.”
“This step by the Hines family is really exciting, and an opportunity to lead the way for the future of the real estate industry and corporate leadership in general,” Hariton said.
Hariton hopes that others will see Hines-Pierce balance as an executive and as a young mother and see that it can work for them, too.
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