Press Room

Broker with Hill-Granados venturing out on his own

February 27, 2006

Robbie King recently opened the doors to Paige Investments LP. The full-service brokerage firm will focus on acquisitions and development -- primarily for retail projects.

"This is something that I've wanted to do since I got into the (real estate) business," says King, who was previously a senior leasing associate with locally based Hill-Granados Retail Partners LP. "I figured this was a good time to go out and do it."

The company is named for King's 18-month-old daughter, Paige.

While Paige Investments is presently a one-man show, King expects to be hiring other brokers pretty soon -- especially as the activity picks up on some of his current projects.

It is too early to talk specifics about his new projects, King says. He did add, however, that Paige Investments plans to do a mix of ground-up, or new retail centers, and some redevelopment projects.

It was on the redevelopment side that the West Texas native says he "cut his teeth

"I like the challenge," he adds.

But the prospect of doing something from the ground up also kindles his entrepreneurial spirit.

"It's a chance to put your own touch on something," he says, "to be involved in the entire project -- from soup to nuts."

With Hill-Granados, King was involved in leasing several developments, including Park North Plaza, which is slated to bring 1.2 million square feet of retail space to the site of the former Central Park Mall. The project is located at Loop 410 and San Pedro Avenue in North Central San Antonio.

"We're sorry to see (King) leave ... " says Mark Granados, managing partner of Hill-Granados. But, he understands King's desire to do his own projects.

"We're really excited for him," Granados adds. "We're sure he's going to be successful." King's pretty sure of that too.

"Within two years, we'll have made a name for ourselves," King says. "People will know we're a prominent player."

Unemployment is on the rise, credit is tight, and consumers aren't spending--which means they aren't picking up and moving much either. Very few places in America saw significant population growth in 2008.

But the buzzing metropolitan area of Denver bucked that trend. Its population increased by 2.17% in 2008. In 2007, it increased by 2.09%. In 2008, Denver was the 10th-fastest growing metro area in the U.S.

What's Denver got that other places don't?