Press

United Commercial Realty

Tom Sineni ‘left a legacy all of us should shoot for’

One of the first things that struck Charles T. Barrett about Tom Sineni was his last name. “It was so unusual,” says Barrett, who had known Sineni for more than 30 years — in the days before Barrett was president of Barrett Holdings Inc., and a leading retailer of luxury cars like Ferraris and Jaguars.

“I asked Tom the meaning behind his name. He shot back, ‘Why do you want to know?’” recalls Barrett chuckling softly.

He continues: “The last time I saw him, he told me, ‘I love you.’” The relationship had come full circle.

Tom Sineni, co-founder, president and a principal in United Commercial Realty (UCR) San Antonio, passed away on the morning of Jan. 31, 2010 — after battling throat cancer for more than two years. He was 67 years old.

He leaves behind his wife and business partner Guyla Sineni, a co-founder of UCR and the firm’s executive vice president. Rounding out the founders are Mike Gribble; and Mickey Ashmore, president and CEO of UCR in Dallas, who is a minority owner in the firm.

Sineni also leaves behind two children, grandchildren, several cousins and other family members.

And he left an indelible mark on San Antonio’s commercial real estate industry. “He is truly one of the legends in San Antonio real estate,” says Darren Casey, president of Darren Casey Interests Inc. “Tom was a part of the start of a lot of real estate careers. And I was one of them.”

In 1982, Sineni interviewed Casey for a job at what was then Henry S. Miller, the predecessor to what would become Grubb & Ellis Co. Sineni, however, never called Casey back.
“So I went and sat in his office, 8 to 5, for a couple of days,” Casey continues. “Finally he tells me, ‘Any guy that has that much persistence, we’ll give you a shot.’”
Sineni remained an inspiration, says Casey: “He left a legacy for all of us to shoot for.”

Beyond the business

The company that Sineni helped to build has firmly staked its claim on the city’s real estate landscape. UCR currently leases some 8.9 million square feet of space in the San Antonio area — a feat that earned the firm the No. 2 spot on the Business Journal’s most recent list of the Largest San Antonio Commercial Property Leasing Firms. Its book of leasing business includes such high-profile centers as Alamo Ranch, Park North, the Alon Town Centre, and the Forum at Olympia Parkway.

In fact, it was Sineni and fellow UCR co-founder Gribble who teamed up with New York-based Kimco Realty Corp. to develop the Forum — one of San Antonio’s earliest million-plus-square-foot shopping centers.

But it is the man behind the business that people remember most.

“I was raised by Tom and Guyla,” says Rick Carduner, who started at Grubb & Ellis in 1984. Sineni was heading up the local and Austin offices at the time. “I not only got a boss, I got a family. He’s done more for my career than anybody.”

Carduner credits Sineni with teaching him how to truly listen. “I would plop down in his office, he never kicked me out, he always listened,” says Carduner, founder of retail/brokerage firm Carduner Commercial LLC. “He was a 100 percent class act, 100 percent of the time.”
Sineni was always dressed to the nines, recall Carduner and others.

That class, however, also extended to the way Sineni carried himself and conducted business. “He was an incredibly personable guy,” says Mike Hogan, president of HomeSpring Realty Partners, a Hogan Properties Company, and a friend of Sineni’s for almost 40 years. “He was the consummate professional. If he gave you his word, you knew you could count on it.”

“He made everyone feel very welcome and special. He genuinely cared,” says UCR Partner Michael Jersin, who was appointed president and chief operating officer of the firm this past summer. “There was always this aura of charisma that he brought into a room.”

Jersin took over the role of president and COO from Sineni himself. Asked if his appointment was based on Sineni’s own health concerns, Jersin says, “I think health was a part of it. But Tom also realized there was a new generation coming up. And he wanted to get back into deal making. He enjoyed the thrill of the deal, he enjoyed being with people.”
And that love of the deal and of people didn’t fade, even as his health did. “He was in my office pitching a deal to me a couple of months ago,” Casey says. “He could barely speak — he was hurting. But he was still out there pitching and selling.”

Jersin recalls visiting with Sineni the Saturday before his passing: “He still wanted to know what was going on in the office.”

Jersin continues, “I will miss his friendship. We were certainly partners, but he was also my mentor, and my friend.”

Final thought

When I started covering real estate, I was beyond green. Sineni was one of those in the industry who helped me find my way in this business. I considered him a good source. And while I never told him, I also considered him a friend.
Journalists long to write that hard-hitting exposé or special interest story that will change the world. I may never have that opportunity, but at least I had the chance to, in some small way, pay tribute to someone like Tom Sineni.

That’s more than enough for me.