 | ||
| James Heistand |
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – James Heistand, President and Chief Executive Officer of Parkway Properties, an Orlando-based real estate investment trust (REIT), will be inducted into the University of Florida’s Kelley A. Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies Hall of Fame on Feb. 26 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.
The induction will take place on the second and final day of the Center’s Trends & Strategies Conference, a premier networking and professional development event examining critical issues in real estate.
Heistand has made a significant impact on Florida real estate since arriving in Orlando in the mid-1980s as Southeastern Regional Vice President for Carnegie Properties, Inc. Since then, Heistand’s ventures have been increasingly successful, and established him as an influential real estate leader at the state, regional and national levels.
“We are proud to induct Jim Heistand into our Hall of Fame,” said J. Andrew Hogshead, Chief Executive Officer of The Collier Companies, and Chair of the Trends & Strategies Conference Committee. “He has delivered incredible success for the shareholders of Parkway Properties, Inc., in terms of both company growth and return on investment. He is a true Gator Great.”
Parkway is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed REIT specializing in the acquisition, ownership, development and management of quality office properties in higher growth submarkets in the Sunbelt region of the United States. Heistand was appointed Parkway’s CEO when Eola Capital, an office real estate company Heistand founded, merged with Parkway.
Parkway owns or has an interest in 36 office properties located in six states with an aggregate of approximately 14.3 million square feet of leasable space as of January 1, 2016. The firm’s equity market cap has increased from $200 million, when Heistand became Parkway’s President and CEO in 2011, to more than $2 billion currently.
Prior to his tenure at Parkway, Heistand built an impressive real estate résumé:
• As Chairman of the Executive Committee of DASCO (1999-2004), an owner and operator of medical office buildings throughout the U.S., Heistand teamed with Lehman Brothers to acquire and develop 28 properties totaling more than 1.4 million square feet with an aggregate cost of $148 million.
• As Founder and Chairman of Associate Capital Properties, Inc. (1989-1999), an office and investment company, Heistand directed all areas of the company’s operations, including strategic planning, acquisitions, development, and financings. The company was sold to Highwood Properties for $622 million in 1997. Heistand subsequently served as Senior Vice President at Highwoods until 1999.
• Prior to founding ACP, Heistand served as President of Major Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Major Realty Corporation, formerly a publicly held, full-service commercial, residential and industrial development company.
Heistand, who was named a 2014 CEO of the Year honoree by the Orlando Business Journal, is a member of the Chairman’s Circle of the Bergstrom Center’s Advisory Board.
The Kelley A. Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Florida has been cultivating the exchange of education and information among real estate researchers, academics, students and industry leaders for more than 30 years. The Center was named after Kelley A Bergstrom, who in 2006 created an endowment to support the Center for years to come.