A Conversation With ... Hannah Textor

Company: Maples Properties LLC

Education: Studied marketing at Missouri State University and is on pace to earn her Certified Commercial Investment Member designation in 2009

Career Choice: Textor became a commercial Realtor two years ago, after working in marketing and taking time off to stay home with her family.

Contact: htextor@maplesproperties.com

Tell us about Maples Properties.

We’re a full-service commercial brokerage company founded by Chris Maples. We handle sales, leasing, build-to-suit and development for office, retail and investment properties and land. Chris Maples handles the property management side, and I focus on sales and leasing. There are six employees. We serve the Springfield metropolitan area.

Why did you choose to work in commercial real estate?

I used to work for a multistate concrete subcontractor, Advanced Concrete … so I have a construction background. Then … I worked part time as the executive director of the Concrete Promotion Council, utilizing my marketing background. I decided I wanted to stay home with my children. I started reading on real estate and investment, and I decided that if I were to ever go back into the work force full time, then I wanted to market what I believe is the ultimate, proven product out there: commercial real estate.

What was your role in bringing a 9,000-square-foot Sears dealer center to Ozark?

Chris Maples manages the property directly behind Ozark Corners (the shopping center where Sears will be located). That area was hit hard when Wal-Mart needed to expand and moved to the next exit (along state highway 14) to create a supercenter (and took) all the piggyback stores that have to be within so many feet of Wal-Mart’s doors. I took it on to market that corner and that center. The more I studied the demographics of the area … and where market leakage was going outside of Ozark (and) pairing that with finding a business that could thrive in Ozark, made me very interested in marketing that visible corner. I was able to match a developer, GrandTex Enterprises LLC … to develop the out-lot, and brought Sears on board. I pitched (that corner) to a lot of people. We’re getting a lot more calls on the center with the groundwork being done out front. Sears is hoping to be in (the new building) by Christmas. This project was done without tax incentives.

What is another recent deal you’ve closed?

We just did a long-term lease for an industrial warehouse for Dempster Industries, a 120-year-old company that needed to expand in Springfield. They’ve relocated to 10,200 square feet on Neergard Street in North Creek Business Park. They added another product line. I love that challenge – being a site locator for a business. ... Dempster needed storage on the outside, and the warehouse. It’s a well-drilling company, so they needed a pipe yard for their equipment.

How do you classify the current commercial real estate market?

Transactions are down. Real estate trading has definitely been affected by economic uncertainty and the lack of available capital. There’s a lot of a fear factor with a wait-and-see attitude. Economic uncertainty, however, brings opportunity to savvy investors. With interest rate cuts, investor can get back in the game, because there are some great buys out there. I would encourage investors to invest now while others seem paralyzed by fear.

What about supply of commercial space?

With building costs rising, the construction of new facilities has obviously slowed down. That always corrects time in the market of an overbuilt stage. For example, two or three years ago, (multifamily developers) built many apartments, and everybody thought they were over-building that sector. Now, with the housing market down, they’re having to build more. I think in times of correction, occupancy rates have risen (for commercial space), but I don’t feel comfortable saying there’s a specific (property-type) shortage, because we’re still finding available spaces.

Tell us about your family and hobbies.

My husband, Mike, is my soul mate. He’s a construction attorney and a shareholder at Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy PC. We’ve been married 13 years. We have an 11-year-old daughter, Micah, and a 9-year-old son, Sam. We do everything together. We look forward to winter vacation, because we like to hit the slopes. Through the warm season, we all play golf together, and in our spare time, we all ballroom dance.

Interview by Features Editor Maria Hoover.