#SPIDERLOVE Eric and his wife, Alejandrina, met when she was a UR international exchange student during his final semester. Their three children share a rich cultural heritage that includes roots in Mexico, Taiwan, and California.
With so much telework these past two years, the future of commercial buildings must be a big discussion topic at your firm. What's the scoop? New development has been lighter than normal since the beginning of the pandemic, but activity has begun to increase, and many larger corpo- rate tenants are resuming their search for new offices. We think that despite a trend toward more flexi- bility with remote work for employees, companies still be- lieve that in-office, human-to-human collaboration is still highly valuable. Given diseases, noise, and privacy complaints, are open-plan office spaces over? Not neces- sarily. We still think open work- spaces will remain preva- lent, as well as the continued need for collaboration spaces. The focus on smart technolo- gy in the workplace is stronger than ever as employers want to ensure their employees feel connected to the mission on a variety of technological platforms. How will major corporate head- quarters change by midcentury? Will we be sharing desks or offices? Will there be car elevators? We'll certainly see changes because of autonomous ve- hicles; the amount of parking and how it looks will be different. More buildings will be construct- ed around net-car- bon-neutral goals. Also "WELL buildings" - concerned with the health and well-being of the people in them - are a concept that is here to stay, from energy and water ef- ficiency to air quality enhancement, even eco-friendly glass. Do you see any nexus between political science and commercial real estate? [Laughs] I majored in political science because I poten- tially wanted to pursue a career in law. My father was - is - an attorney. I really enjoyed po- litical science, but I started to become more interested in construction and real estate and ended up with an internship at Turner Construction, which turned into a full- time job. So, no, there aren't a whole lot of parallels other than my natural desire to be around people, engaging with folks and building rela- tionships. We work in a client-driven business, based around serving our clients and making sure the outcomes are what we say they're going to be. Do you have a favor- ite project? What really gets my juices flowing is the pursuit of the project. I've always loved the opportu- nity to be creative and exercise strategy. It's the most exciting part of the project life cycle for me - the upfront sales piece, the procurement of the business, to showing our client that we're the right partner for them. I love that. It's always a team approach to every major deal; everyone from mar- keting to operations to the transactions team has a hand in it. The time this takes varies by, for instance, how far out the deal is and what the client's ob- jectives are. Some- times it's three to four years from the time we meet the prospective client; sometimes it re- solves in months. How does being based in Texas affect your life and work? The only time I ha- ven't been in Texas was when I went to Richmond for four years. I wanted to come right back because it's where my family is from, where I grew up, a vibrant and friendly place to be in. North Texas has attracted a lot of corporate head- quarters relocations - Toyota and State Farm among others - so we're in a great spot. BUSINESS Eric Hage, '06, recently became executive vice president for devel- opment for KDC, a commercial real estate developer. He's currently involved in the newest phase of the CityLine development near Dallas, which adds three towers and 1.4 million square feet to the complex.
V O I C E S
ERIC HAGE, '06
Interview by Ellen Ryan U N I V E R S I T Y of R I C H M O N D
N E W S
11
2022 WINTER
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